An ambitious plan with a strong foundation

Many in our city know us as the Aussie couple who have called Easton, PA, home for nearly a decade and who, as small business owners, have been creating community and sharing our favorite food and wine for the last seven years, first at our café Tucker Silk Mill, and for the last 18 months at Kabinett Wine Bar. We are downtown Easton residents with an existing business invested in the growth and cultural vibrancy of our adopted city. 

We are also known for the mighty Hail Mary we pulled during the pandemic, pivoting our business model to a community grocery store and launching a charitable food donation and distribution program designed to address food insecurity in the community. We supported local soup kitchens and food pantries and supplied fresh produce to elementary schools and veterans. At its peak, Tucker was the second largest supplier of produce to food banks in Easton and even helped save a local egg farm and 80,000 chickens. 

In 2022, we were given the opportunity to relocate Tucker to the heart of Northampton Street’s 100-block revival in downtown Easton, in the former ‘Easton Garage’ right next to Kabinett. The 12,000-foot space would allow us to scale up our core offering and mission: to nourish our community and serve a growing number of downtown Easton residents with fresh produce, staples, basic household goods, and pantry essentials, within walking distance: a true neighborhood general store and café.

Good progress but a few last-minute hurdles

For two years, we’ve been working incredibly hard to get Tucker Garage + Grocery open. We are a small husband and wife team without fancy backers or deep pockets and who have built most of our businesses by hand with the help of family and friends, a small business loan, and our life savings.

We are almost at the finish line and have built out 95% of the space, but some recent big and unexpected financial hits (looking at you burst city sewer pipes, hello vintage air-conditioning system that died completely at the end of August) mean we’ve severely dented our finances to get the place open. 

Admitting and asking for help is very hard. We are a resilient and resourceful team; we get things done. But we’re in a tough place. We are appealing to you, our community, to help us push over this last challenging hurdle by becoming a sponsor and helping us hit a $75K crowdfunding goal. Your contributions (with tangible perks for different levels of sponsorship) will directly help us cover the rest of the build out of the space, help us build our initial inventory of groceries, and fund vital kitchen equipment.

What would help us get over the finish line?

We have some specific and tangible milestones that our supporters could help bring to fruition. Here’s how we’d aim to use any contributions and help to make Tucker Garage + Grocery into a space for the community:

• $5K: Would assist us in the last minute improvements such as additional shelving, counter space, and touchups for what is a huge community space with room for everybody.
• $15K: Helps us with a basic starting grocery inventory and makes sure that the everyday staples desperately needed by downtown Easton 7 days a week can become a reality. 
• $25K: Helps us clear the last hurdle in our construction of an amazing 4000 sq ft family and dog-friendly patio area. We’ve already invested in all the hardware but will need a team of tradespeople to help us construct it.
• $35-45K: Helps us take the last steps in installing an exhaust hood and other essential equipment in the production kitchen that will mean an increased ability to serve the café and grocery and host large events.
• $55-65K: Helps us roll out new energy efficient and environmentally conscious air-conditioning for our huge space, including the kitchen. (We have heat but no cooling.)
• $75K: Would allow us to achieve our long-held dream of a European-style rotisserie oven to roast chickens (like in Germany and France) for the grocery store and the patio in summer. 

The perks of community involvement

Any donation would be appreciated and the Indiegogo platform certainly allows for a straight-forward contribution OR you can choose to redeem unique perks at the levels that we’ve outlined below:

$50 – ‘Community goodwill’ level’
Maybe you just like the idea of a small business succeeding, and that is reward enough in itself. We’ll make sure we add you to our VIP lists and ensure you get the early heads up on special events and offers before the general public.

$100 – The ‘Warm & Fuzzy’ Level
Maybe you don’t live in Easton. Maybe you are far away but still want to help. Every month, we will send you a photo of Hobart to give you the warm and fuzzies.

$250 – ‘Espresso funding’ level
Your weekly fix of Partner’s espresso or Kusmi Tea for a year.

$500 – ‘Let them eat cake’ level
52 slices of cake per year. Once a week or all in one hit, it’s up to you. It’s open season on desserts, scones, tarts, cakes, slices. Even take entire cakes home for special occasions. There are no rules, only 52 delightfully sweet experiences in your immediate future.

$1000 – ‘The double dippin’ level
Eating free cake alone can be a happy experience but sharing free cake for a year for you and a friend would be even more joyous. The perfect Christmas stocking stuffer for your favorite partner in dessert eating. Is there a better way to show a small business and a bestie how much you care? We think not!

$2500 – ‘Dinner for a mixed dozen’ level
An intimate dinner in Kabinett’s ‘Narnia’ dining room for you and 11 friends: four courses, matched wines, you just let us know when.

$5000 – ‘Personal Patio Party’ level
Invite 50 of your friends to your own Patio Party. Exclusive use of the 4000sq ft outdoor patio (or indoor garage space if you choose) for the evening. A generous package including cocktails, beer, wine and canapés for you and fifty of your closest friends. Maybe you see a wedding reception in your near future, maybe you’ve a milestone birthday coming up in the next twelve months. Maybe you just like to throw parties! This is a great way to hold an event and help launch a small business.

What does it mean for the Easton community?

Sponsoring Tucker Garage + Grocery is a sign that you’d like to see this project succeed and be an addition to downtown Easton’s dynamic dining scene, creating more local jobs, and contributing to the community.

Nearly 650 apartments within ½ a mile are being built near Tucker Garage + Grocery and we aim to serve the existing downtown community and this growing influx of new residents with fresh produce, groceries, and essentials within walking distance between 8am and 8pm every day of the week.

We want to open the kind of neighborhood store where folks will pick up last-minute staples and essentials through the week to help them cook dinner, make the kids lunches, or put milk and bread on the breakfast table, or maybe treat themselves to some unique Aussie baked goods, a killer coffee, and a bottle of wine and some cheese to entertain friends at home. 

What if you just want to see us succeed but can’t afford to sponsor a small business?

It’s been a tough year for many people and some of us just can’t contribute, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help:

• Feel free to tell your friends and family. Maybe you know someone who loved Tucker in the past and wants to see us succeed again in the future.
• You can use the Indiegogo share tools to tell others about our community initiative!