Greenpoint’s newest coffee shop has three wheels

August 28, 2018 By Alex Wieckowski Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Customers can message Stacey Carrillo and she will bike to their location to serve them a cold cup of coffee. Eagle photo by Stacey Carrillo

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Coffee is everywhere in Brooklyn — cafes, restaurants, delis — but one couple has found a new way to successfully sell a cup of joe.

Riding around Greenpoint in a custom tricycle wearing vintage overalls and a pageboy cap, Stacy Carrillo just may be the first and only coffee peddler in Greenpoint.

Instead of customers going to a coffee shop, this coffee shop goes to its customers. Carrillo bikes to small businesses that are relatively isolated from the main streets of Greenpoint to deliver cold brew coffee, but can also be found in different parks around the neighborhood.

She started The Greenpoint Peddler with her husband Moses Carrillo. After moving to Greenpoint from San Diego more than a year ago, the two were hanging out at McCarren Park when they saw a group of kids running to a man pushing an Italian ice cart as he entered the park. They wondered why there weren’t any pushcarts catering to parents.

“So then it hit us, imagine a coffee cart rolling through here,” Moses Carrillo said. “As a parent, sometimes it’s hard to make that pit stop before getting to the park. We would know being parents of two,” he added.

The two invested roughly $6,000 in a custom trike from Oregon-based Icicle Tricycles and partnered with Sweetleaf Coffee Roasters and within a few months, Stacy Carrillo was out cruising the streets and selling cold brew for $5 a cup.

Although Moses Carrillo doesn’t peddle coffee himself, he does handle the back end of the business from ordering the coffee to handling the books. He also works on the management team of a Williamsburg hotel to help support his family while The Greenpoint Peddler continues to grow.

The reception from the Greenpoint community has been positive, according to Moses Carrillo. “They absolutely love what we’re doing from the cart’s design to Stacy’s uniform and genuine personality,” he said.

And it’s true. While talking to Stacy Carrillo about her business, several people commented on her bike and were impressed with the concept. One passerby said, “This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” and ordered four coffees.

This, however, is not a summer gig for Stacy Carrillo. She loves the cold weather and is thinking about equipping thermoses to her bike to deliver hot coffee during the winter months. “Of course if it’s raining or snowing, I likely won’t go out. But I don’t mind the cold,” she said.

On a typical day, she can bike up to 10 or 13 miles a day. Last week, she biked approximately 50 miles and has a bike-tracking app to prove it. She takes a three-hour break in the afternoon to rest and because business slows down during lunch hours.

Growing a new business can be hard, especially when so much relies on one person, but Stacy Carrillo says she has yet to take a day off because she hasn’t needed it. She does, however, take most weekends off to spend time with her two girls. “Family time is important to me,” she said.

Although the couple is starting small and focusing only on Greenpoint for now, they would like to expand in the future. “The dream is to own several brick-and-mortar stores where Stacey would be the face of the company,” said Moses Carrillo. For now, however, Stacy Carrillo hopes “everyone takes to it, loves the coffee and can enjoy something different here in NYC.”