Saxbys Coffee, which opened in November, seems as though it is here to stay, according to Frank and Lisa Cariello, owners of the Hillsborough Street location.

The Cariellos, who have been married for 25 years, ventured into the business world separately, but more recently went into the franchise business together. While they still own one of their two previous businesses, The Goddard School, the couple moved to a different kind of franchise, namely Saxbys Coffee. This new venture is tucked neatly under the 2604 apartments, across from D.H. Hill Library.

Though Saxbys is based out of Philadelphia, where the Cariello’s spent some of their years, they are originally from Chicago and didn’t know about the franchise until moving to North Carolina. Both the business and the couple being in the same place was purely coincidental.

“We actually own another franchise here in town, The Goddard School, which is also based out of Philly — all this is just a coincidence though,” Lisa Cariello said. “We got to know them once we moved down here. We didn’t even know Saxbys Coffee when we were in Philly; it’s weird how things work out.”

According to Lisa Cariello, owning Saxbys was a decision partially based on their two children because of the flexibility a franchise gives.

“We were looking for something else to do because we started with Goddard 10 years ago when our kids were young, and now they are looking at colleges,” Lisa Cariello said. “They have always been involved in our businesses, whether it was sitting with us or passing out flyers.”

Frank Cariello jokingly said, “Free labor.” 

Global Village Organic Coffee, Cup A Joe and Coffee Haven are also located on Hillsborough Street, but according to Lisa and Frank Cariello, the quality of their coffee is what sets them apart.

“There is something special about all of the places, but we have a medium roast coffee which has a great taste,” Lisa Cariello said. “We always have people telling us how good the coffee is. It’s not over burnt like some places will do.”

Saxbys’ signature blend is roasted to the company’s specifications and is roasted in Seattle.

“It is made in small batches so they are able to control it really well,” Frank Cariello said. “We have southern pecan as our flavor today, and I mean I have had pecan coffee before, but theirs is really controlled while roasting and it is very good. I’d come here just for that, and I own the place.”

In addition to the quality of coffee, Lisa said another trait that sets them apart is their variety.

“We also have a huge variety of choices,” Lisa Cariello said. “All different types of flavors like almond joy or Mexican chocolate — so there is something for everyone if you like flavored, but we also have sugar free coffee as well.”

According to Lisa Cariello, coffee is not their only specialty.

“We also have two flavors of frozen yogurt,” Lisa Cariello said. “We can do a combination of the coffee drinks with the yogurt, and it’s our specialty.”

Frank Cariello said Saxbys is different than its other coffee-making competitors. 

“We also have baked scones and cookies here everyday,” Frank Cariello said.  “Some of our bakery is brought in from other sources and is fresh all the time, and our breakfast sandwiches are huge, low cost and are made to order on site from scratch. So, I think we have a little more variety, oh and we are open later than our competitors, which we are drawing people in with that.”

Though Saxbys is under apartments, they do not share much besides a landlord and some of their employees who live upstairs. 

“The people designing the apartments designed it to have one retail space underneath it and they thought that a coffee shop would be a good fit,” Lisa Cariello said. “We were looking for a spot at the time, and we found out about this. And having the apartments above we thought would be wonderful for employees and to bring people through here.”

According to Frank Cariello, the space really caught their eye. 

“Unlike other spaces we were looking at, we really liked the idea of being able to have floor to ceiling windows so it opens up to the sidewalk so it’s just like one big space,” Frank Cariello said. “We haven’t gotten to that point weather-wise but we will!”

Business has been good according to Frank Cariello, but they had a few rough spots when N.C. State had breaks.

“We opened, had a really great opening, then everyone went home for Thanksgiving,” Frank Cariello said. “Then we had a great time as they went into finals studying in December, but then everyone went home for Christmas. But we are attracting more people every day which is really nice and we are getting a lot of regulars that come in every morning, so it’s a building process.”

According to the Cariellos, they would just like for people to come in and give Saxbys a try. 

“Come on down, you know a lot of people know what Starbucks is and you know they’ve known Global down the street, but try something different — come on in,” Frank Cariello said. “We might just fit well into your rotation.”