By Claire Schneider

Coffeetree Books and Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop, having taken up residence in a 1969 cinema, are nestled between mountains and Morehead State University.

Susan Thomas, current manager of both, inherited the business from her parents. Upon retirement from the local university they decided to start a coffee shop. 

Coffeetree dates back to the 1970s, having been an independent bookstore by the name of Book Haven. Fuzzy Duck set up in the back of Book Haven with nothing but a couple of coffee pots and coffee beans from Lexington Tea and Coffee. 

“We took a lot of drinks from their menu. My parents went and learned all about coffee, and that was sort of the beginning of the coffee boom,” Thomas said. 

The small scale of the business allowed them to take time off when needed, but as it grew they hired more staff and began serving food. Eventually owners of Book Haven quit, allowing Thomas’s parents and another couple to buy the store in 1998.

At the time, Thomas worked in publishing in Nashville. Her husband, Grant Alden, worked as a magazine editor. 

In 2004 they returned to Morehead. When the bookstore owners retired, Thomas became manager of Coffeetree.

“We had a small child then, it was when I was still running the magazine deadlines, so it was a little bit hodgepodge,” Alden said.

In 2010, Morehead was hit by flooding, bringing three feet of moving water into the businesses. 

“Books and water, they’re really not a good combination,” Thomas said.

Susan Thomas and Grant Alden watch over Tuesday’s Sit and Stitch. (Photo by Claire Schneider / The Louisville Cardinal)

A new home

Morehead’s classic cinema slowly fazed out of use once a multiplex opened across town. By its permanent closure, it only opened for the occasional horror film. 

Three businessmen had purchased the building; Coffeetree and Fuzzy Duck were in need of a new home.

“I reached out and said ‘what do you think you’re going to do with that,’ and they said ‘well, we were actually going to give it a reasonable amount of time and see what you were thinking,’” Thomas recalled.

The lobby became the coffee shop, the theater became the bookstore and the projection room became the office. The remodel involved removing features like theater seats, but some elements such as the fabric draped walls and silver screen remained.

“Everybody was really excited because everybody has memories of this theater,” Thomas said. 

Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop is frequented by locals, tourists, college students and in the summer, high school students from the Governor’s Scholar Program and Upward Bound. (Photo by Claire Schneider / The Louisville Cardinal)

Small town doesn’t mean small-minded

Coffeetree and Fuzzy Duck are a gathering place in Morehead where everyone is welcome. 

“Everyone sort of knows that you can come here and be safe and open. People will have interviews and meetings here, they’ll hang out here, it’s a date spot,” employee Kaitlyn Hicks said.

In 2009 they began selling yarn, and now host Sit and Stitch on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Alden noted how the concept of third spaces has been popularized, especially amongst coffee shops. 

“We live in an era in which kids don’t talk to each other. They look at their phones, they don’t have a lot of community interaction and our role in this community is to provide a place where that can actually happen,” Alden said.

Another way they connect with their community is by dedicating shelves to Appalachian writers and a CD rack for local musicians.

Coffeetree and Fuzzy Duck are hosting the Appalachian Literary Arts Festival from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30. It includes workshops, keynote speakers and activities like open mic nights and live music.

“We have to reflect our community,” Thomas said.

Photo by Claire Schneider / The Louisville Cardinal