Aileen Mancio serves a customer at the coffee shop's new location inside Boreal Colours. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

growth

Coffee shop expands with new permanent location

Oct 23, 2024 | 12:05 PM

Three sisters have witnessed significant growth in their business since 2023, having started out as a pop-up shop and now transitioning this week to a permanent location.

Abigail, Aileen and Amabelle Mancio, who all immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, are the owners of the Little town coffee co. In less than two years, they have been able to find a special spot in the heart of coffee lovers and their products have consistently drawn lineups of customers wanting a taste of what they have to offer.

Little town coffee co. grew from humble beginnings with the sisters selling iced coffee at events at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre and La Ronge Senior’s Centre, to a small mobile trailer this summer along La Ronge Avenue, to opening a location in Boreal Colours just this week.

“We were doing an event at the Elk’s Fair and, with the money that we made, we used that to buy the trailer,” Amabelle explained.

“The first day that we started [with the trailer], we tried the Biscoff drink and we thought people won’t like it because it’s too sweet, but it turned out that people liked Biscoff and it’s our bestseller so far.”

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The sisters operated the trailer during the summer months of 2024 up until the end of September. They took the money they earned during that endeavour and invested it into the new location they opened this week.

The location took a lot of work to prepare for opening day. The sisters had to carve out a section of the hair salon and build a new cafe from scratch. With the extra space, they have been able to expand their offerings and now sell homemade baked goods like croissants, cheesecakes and cookies.

“It feels good,” Amabelle said about witnessing the rapid growth in the business.

“Every time we launch a menu like at the trailer, Biscoff stood out and, when we opened this one, pistachio croissant.”

Little town coffee co. will be open Monday to Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Amabelle noted they currently have plans to operate the trailer again next year if they have the time to operate two locations.

The business is currently a nominee for the Tri-Community Awards Gala under the Business of the Year category for one to five employees. Amabelle is also nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com