AUBURN - As Timothy Bridenbecker sees it, he's just giving the Auburn community what it's been seeking.

On Aug. 25, he opened a second location of Riverbend Coffee in an 800-square-foot space at 83 Genesee St. in Auburn.

"People have been wanting a coffee house in the downtown area for quite a long time," says Bridenbecker, who owns the store along with his wife, Terri.

He said he had been hearing rumors that Starbucks was coming to Auburn. It never did, and he felt he could fill the void.

Bridenbecker has been operating his first store in the Fingerlakes Mall in the town of Aurelius since June 2004. After Bass Pro Shops opened in the mall, Bridenbecker thought the shopping center could use a coffee shop.

At the time, he owned another business, Helping Hands Transportation, which transported the wheelchair-bound. But once he decided to pursue the coffee-shop idea, Bridenbecker sold Helping Hands Transportation to Ruth Bergerstock of the town of Scipio. He declined to disclose the price.

Bridenbecker says he used the proceeds from the sale and a bank loan from Savannah, N.Y.-based Savannah Bank, N.A. to finance the opening of Riverbend Coffee. He wouldn't disclose how much money he borrowed, but says it was used for equipment, inventory, and construction.

"We took two units at the mall, took down the wall, and married them into one larger space," he says, noting the storeoperates in a 1,175-square-foot space in the mall.

The process of opening his first store took about six months. Bridenbecker leases space from Fingerlakes Mall Acquisitions, LLC. He declined to disclose the monthly lease amount.

Piccolo Properties owns the Genesee Street property Bridenbecker is leasing for his second store. It's located on the ground floor of a dormitory for students at Cayuga Community College.

Knowing that Bridenbecker was thinking about a second location, Piccolo had contacted him about the Genesee Street location.

"We've actually been looking in the downtown area for about a year," says Bridenbecker.

The Genesee Street location required "minimal" construction and a fresh coat of paint to prepare the space for business. The building's maintenance staff handled the paint job and construction of the counter tops.

Another loan from Savannah Bank helped finance the opening of the new store, Bridenbeck says, refusing to disclose how much money he borrowed.

Riverbend Coffee employs six part-time workers, who split time between both locations. Bridenbecker says he usually hires a few more part-time, seasonal workers between Thanksgiving and early January, in order to handle the holiday rush.

Bridenbecker wouldn't disclose revenue totals for Riverbend Coffee, but says his sales have doubled since opening in June 2004.

Bridenbecker believes the relaxed atmosphere of his stores helps him compete against other larger coffee chains that he thinks have a "get-it-and-go" philosophy.

The store features brewed coffee, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, as well as pastries including eclairs, half-moon cookies, brownies, muffins, and bagels. Outside vendors provide the pastries, Bridenbecker says, but he wouldn't name any of them.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters of Vermont provides the coffee for the shop. Bridenbecker says he received samples from about dozen vendors before choosing Green Mountain. It was a product he was familiar with from getting his own morning coffee in the years before owning his own store.

Being a fan of the Adirondacks, Bridenbecker has tried to create a rustic, lodge-type atmosphere at his coffee shops. He believes the name of his coffee provider, Green Mountain, fits in well with the theme. And he says the shop was named Riverbend to tie in as well.

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