A new coffee shop is making its way into Downtown St. Charles. Coroco—a small but mighty business. 

Besides the St. Charles location that’s projected to open in early November, Coroco has one other location in Sycamore, Illinois. 

Recently, the owner, Karen Weckerly, talked to us about her shop. 

She explained that a lot of their coffee process has been trial and error. For example, one of their special coffees called “The Neighborhood Gem Blend,” which is a blend of two coffee grounds, made by accident. 

One of their top priorities in their business is to make people want to come back. They also want to inspire people to keep asking questions about coffee. It’s a comfortable space for coffee experts and coffee newbies alike. 

The values of their business, as Weckerly had explained, are not just narrowed down to a simple answer.

 “At the surface level, there’s always going to be your relationships with your own team, everybody you work with,” Weckerly said. “But then it goes beyond that into the community, and beyond that even further into other countries’ economies.” 

Before opening their Sycamore location, they spent 3 years training and learning everything they could about coffee. In 2019, they opened the first Coroco location.

We asked: What makes your coffee shop the coffee shop to go to amongst all of the cafes downtown?

 “I think one of the biggest characteristics of the Coroco kind of culture is the vibe that we have,” Weckerly said. “We are really heavy on training so our baristas are all super duper trained in coffee—they know all the coffee that we sell… our highly trained staff will set us apart. ”

Since the Downtown Starbucks was already established in its little nook in downtown St. Charles, there are high hopes that people will enjoy Coroco’s coffee with every unique treat you can enjoy. 

During COVID-19, Coroco’s business took a hit, being freshly opened. Coroco navigated curbside delivery, which was difficult for a multitude of reasons. Weckerly emphasized how it was difficult to get the drinks right after they were ordered online: “Not being able to talk to your customers face to face, we had to do a little guesswork,” she said. Nonetheless, Coroco was able to persevere and managed to get far enough to have the opportunity to open up a new location.

Another significant part of Coroco’s business is that they have an amazing contribution to local charities such as the Rotary Club, Northern Illinois Food Bank, EndPoloNow, and other organizations.

Their opening hours are 6 AM on the weekdays and 7 AM on the weekends. They close at 8 pm. Prices range from about $2 for a small drip coffee to $7 for a 24-ounce specialty latte. Their bags of coffee range from $14 at the lowest to $55 for a bag of Blue Mountain coffee.

So, if you’re looking for a new place to hang out with friends and get some great coffee, be sure to head down to Coroco. It’ll be opening mid-November at 101 South 1st Street.