Julie and TJ Fairchild moved to Indiana, PA  from North Carolina in early 2003 to open The Commonplace Coffeehouse & Roastery. I had just finished a graduate degree in Philosophy (I missed graduation because we didn’t have employees yet). Julie had worked as a social worker.

We decided to take a trip in our 1974 Volkswagen Bus. Part of the purpose of the trip was to find a small town in which to open a coffeehouse. During the trip a friend called to tell us about Indiana, PA and a possible place to open the coffeehouse.

The Commonplace Coffeehouse & Roastery opened in March 2003. In August of 2009 we moved the roaster out of the retail store into the small business incubator of Indiana, PA. In early 2010 we opened our second retail store in the hospital in Indiana, PA. In May of 2010 we were given our first opportunity to open a retail store in Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill). Then in June 2012 we were excited to partner with the legacy that Barb and Amelie began with Voluto Coffee. After some great conversations with Scott Smith of East End Brewing Company we opened a roastery (October 2012) in Pittsburgh, sharing space with EEBC.

As our business has grown so has our family:  Soren was born in December 2003, Seth arrived in April 2007, and Matthias was born in April 2010.