Central Station Coffee & Tea

What Central Station Coffee & Tea does

Central Station Coffee & Tea is a privately held, independent neighborhood coffee shop founded in June 2021 in Wilmette, Illinois, operating two physical locations: the Main Cafe at 1150 Central Avenue (open daily 7am-5pm) and the Train Bodega at 722 Green Bay Road inside the Wilmette Metra Station (open weekday mornings 6am-9:30am). The company is owned and operated by Katie Degen and employs approximately nine people. Its core operational capability is in-house small-batch coffee roasting on a Bellwether roaster, with a green-bean-to-cup turnaround measured in days and a retail product line spanning Light Roast, Medium Roast, Espresso Roast, English Breakfast Blend tea, and merchandise, all certified organic and fair trade.

The business model is direct-to-consumer across two revenue streams: (1) cafe beverage and pastry sales at both locations, with ToastTab-powered online ordering for pickup, and (2) retail coffee bean, loose-leaf tea, and merchandise sales via the company website and in-store. Coffee is priced at $19.50 per bag and tea at $7.50 per unit, on a pay-as-you-go basis with no subscription model disclosed. The customer base is primarily local Wilmette residents and morning Metra commuters, supplemented by retail/catering customers purchasing beans and tea for home or events.

The go-to-market is community-driven rather than performance-marketing-driven, leaning on local media coverage (WGN Morning News, The Record Northshore, Barista Magazine), an active Instagram and Facebook presence, the Neighborhood Coffee YouTube channel for brewing education, and recurring community events such as the Annual Wilmette President's Cup and a rotating local-artist gallery program. The company has no disclosed funding, no parent entity, no app, and operates exclusively in a single geography (Wilmette, IL, USA). Its stated strategic direction is to extend beyond cafe beverage sales into an expanded roasting program, catering, retail products, events, and community partnerships.

Name

Central Station Coffee & Tea

Legal name

Central Station Coffee and Tea

Website

https://centralstationcoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Central Station Coffee & Tea is a privately owned Wilmette, Illinois neighborhood coffee shop founded in 2021, operating two cafes and roasting small-batch organic, fair trade coffee in-house on a Bellwether roaster for retail and beverage sales to local residents, Metra commuters, and home-brewing customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Shop & Café Services

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA), Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus) (THAFADAG), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee shop
• Small-batch coffee roasting
• Organic fair trade coffee
• Artisan cafe beverages
• Retail whole bean coffee

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilmette

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cafe Beverage Sales: Revenue from handcrafted beverages and pastries sold at Main Cafe and Train Bodega locations.
2. Retail Coffee and Tea Sales: Sale of premium roasted coffee beans, loose leaf teas, and merchandise both in-store and through website shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Central Station Coffee & Tea operates a neighborhood coffee shop in Wilmette, Illinois with two physical locations — a full-service Main Cafe (1150 Central Avenue) and a commuter-focused Train Bodega inside the Wilmette Metra Station (722 Green Bay Road). The company roasts coffee in-house on a Bellwether roaster in small batches and serves handcrafted beverages and pastries in-store, while also selling retail coffee beans (Light, Medium, Espresso roasts), organic loose-leaf tea (English Breakfast Blend), and branded merchandise through its website shop and at both cafes.

Product overview

Central Station Coffee & Tea operates as a neighborhood coffee shop with a focused product portfolio centered on in-house roasted coffee and organic teas. Their core offerings consist of four retail coffee products—Light Roast, Medium Roast, Espresso Roast, and English Breakfast Blend—sold as whole bean coffee or loose leaf tea for home preparation. All coffees are organic and fair trade, roasted in small batches on their Bellwether roaster. The company also offers merchandise and food items. Their products are available for purchase online with pickup at either of their two Wilmette, Illinois locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Light Roast coffee beans A blend of Ethiopian and Costa Rican beans with bright, fruity notes, sold as whole bean coffee at $19.50 per bag for home brewing. Certified organic and fair trade.
• Medium Roast coffee beans House blend of Colombian and Costa Rican beans with flavor notes of toffee, cocoa, and stone fruit, sold as whole bean coffee at $19.50 per bag. Certified organic and fair trade; packaging designed by artist Martha Nippert.
• Espresso Roast coffee beans A blend of Brazilian beans designed for espresso preparation with rich, bold flavor, sold as whole bean coffee at $19.50 per bag. Certified organic and fair trade.
• English Breakfast Blend loose leaf tea Organic loose leaf English Breakfast tea blend packaged in compostable sachets, sold at $7.50 per unit for home brewing.
• Branded merchandise Apparel and branded items sold in-store at both Wilmette locations and through the company website shop.
• In-cafe handcrafted beverages and pastries Full menu of handcrafted coffee and tea beverages plus pastries served at the Main Cafe (1150 Central Avenue, daily 7am-5pm) and a focused grab-and-go menu at the Train Bodega inside Wilmette Metra Station (weekday mornings 6am-9:30am). Available for in-store consumption, counter order, and ToastTab order-ahead pickup.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Local Wilmette ArtistsminorOthersRotating gallery program showcasing local Wilmette artists' work on cafe walls. Artists can apply to exhibit and sell their work directly from the cafe.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Direct peers

• Collectivo Coffee: Midwest specialty roaster and multi-location cafe operator with in-house roasting and retail bean sales. Comparable business model: roastery + cafe chain + DTC e-commerce + community-focused branding.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster operating cafes and DTC e-commerce with in-house roasting and a curated tea program. Closely comparable to Central Station on cafe-plus-roastery model, retail SKU strategy, and tea/coffee dual offering.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster with a strong sustainability and education focus, supplying wholesale and operating training programs. Comparable on direct-trade sourcing, education-driven content, and small-batch roasting ethos.
• Dark Matter Coffee: Chicago specialty roaster with its own cafes, focused on small-batch roasting and distinctive branding. Comparable to Central Station on in-house roasting, single-origin sourcing, and cafe retail model.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Chicago-based specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator with in-house roasting, single-origin sourcing, and direct-trade positioning. Most directly comparable to Central Station on geography, third-wave philosophy, and cafe-plus-roastery business model.

Broad incumbents

• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Established specialty coffee roaster (Peet's/Lavazza-owned) operating cafes, wholesale, and DTC e-commerce. Comparable on direct-trade sourcing and cafe-plus-roastery model, but with national distribution scale Central Station lacks.
• Philz Coffee: Specialty coffee chain with in-house roasting and a heavy focus on custom handcrafted beverages and community-cafe atmosphere. Overlaps with Central Station on craft beverage positioning and neighborhood-cafe experience.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: National specialty coffee cafe and roaster brand (now Nestlé-owned) with in-house roasting, retail DTC, and food partnerships. Overlaps with Central Station on roastery-cafe model and premium single-origin positioning, but at vastly greater scale.

Others

• Caravela Coffee: Green coffee importer focused on Latin American single-origin and direct-trade sourcing. Relevant as an upstream supplier and ecosystem participant that enables the same single-origin sourcing model Central Station employs.
• Bellwether Coffee: Manufacturer of the electric Bellwether coffee roaster that Central Station uses. Indirectly connected as the technology supplier; useful comparable for roastery-side technology and economics.

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CentralStationCoffee
• Facebookfacebook.com/centralstationcoffee
• Instagraminstagram.com/centralstationcoffee
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/central-station-coffee-&-tea

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Central Station Coffee & Tea