Buzz’d Coffee arrives in North Bellmore

Frequent travelers of Bellmore Avenue in between Sunrise Highway and Jerusalem Avenue may have noticed that the vacant lot, once home to the Bellmore Dairy Barn, has recently undergone extensive renovations and is now donning a new sign.

Buzz’d Express Coffee, a new business with an original take on drive through coffee shops, will open its flagship location in North Bellmore in mid-November. Owned by Greg Carmada of Massapequa, he told the Herald he envisioned his business while working at a coffee shop in college.

“I had the idea of opening a shop — if you’ve seen other stores [like Starbucks or Dunkin’], drive through lines are bad,” Carmada said. “I had the idea of taking dairy barns and making it a two lane drive through.”

The two lane drive through concept that Carmada envisioned led to the idea that Buzz’d Coffee would be an “express,” drive through only coffee shop. Converting the Bellmore Dairy Barn into a coffee shop allows for there to be two lanes — one for ordering in-person, and one for picking up online orders.

Online orders can be placed ahead of time on their app — which will be up and running in the next couple of weeks, according to Camarda.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research over the last year,” he explained. “I would go sit in a drive through lane and time myself going through — it was sometimes taking 15 to 25 minutes, from start to finish.

“[Buzz’d] will have the quality of a coffee shop with the convenience of it being express,” he added. “It will be a little bit of a different take on it, if we can.”

David Czegledi, a long time acquaintance of Carmada’s family, has been involved in business and restaurant management for a number of years, previously holding management positions with Ben’s Kosher Deli. Czegledi was brought in as a general manager for Buzz’d, being that he’s worked in the business, understands the market and can adequately assist with networking, according to Carmada.

Czegledi has been posting frequently to Facebook, providing residents with updates on the construction project. In terms of working with the local community, projects that are being envisioned for Buzz’d include blood drives, where in exchange for donating blood, patrons would receive a free coffee. Czegledi added that they’ve been in contact with the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce, other local businesses, as well as the libraries to get their name out there and to establish themselves as an integral part of the community.

“We want to give back to the community,” Czegledi shared. “We want to provide the best customer service, and give out a high quality product of [both] coffee and food.”

Buzz’d’s menu will include coffee and other beverages, as well as bakery and food items, specifically for breakfast and lunch, Carmada explained. The menu will be accommodating, featuring dairy and non-dairy options for beverage items, as well as vegan and gluten free items for those with dietary restrictions or preferences.

“We want to be able to accommodate everyone,” Czegledi said. “And, if someone had a specific request, we will try to accommodate that.”

Before settling on the North Bellmore location, Carmada shared they looked at about five or six closed dairy barns throughout Nassau County. His goal is to see Buzz’d expand throughout the county, the rest of Long Island and eventually elsewhere. Taking over a location that had been left vacant for some time now, the community response has been welcoming to the idea of a new business.

“It was a dump,” Carmada said of the old dairy barn. “It was dirty, smelt bad — it didn’t look good. The Town of Hempstead has been the easiest to work with.”

“The responses we have gotten [from the community] have been great,” Czegledi added. “People love it — we’ve heard a lot of ‘I can’t wait.’”

In the coming weeks, construction will continue on site. Asphalt will be laid for the drive through lanes, and landscaping will be completed as well. The left lane will be for pickup orders, and the right lane will be for in-person orders. Under the asphalt, there will be sensors in the ground that will indicate when a car has arrived, sending a signal to a worker’s headset, Carmada explained. Inside the building, counters, refrigerators and other machinery is also to be installed.

In addition to the building process, Czegledi shared that they have been working to perfect their blend of coffee.

“Southdown Coffee Roasters is making the blend for the coffee,” Czegledi said. “[Southdown Coffee] is a specialty coffee shop on the North Shore [of Long Island].”

“We’ve been working with them for months,” Carmada added. “Trying different tastes, blends — it’s been a learning experience. Coffee is a lot more complicated than you’d think.”

Weather permitting, in times of high traffic, Caramda said they may have workers out in the lanes, directing traffic and taking orders.

“Why we like the double lane so much is so we can cater to both sides —both customers,” he said. “If needed we can direct people to both sides.”

Community driven and focused, Buzz’d still has openings for jobs, and according to Czegledi, they have already hired  young people from the area to cover after-school shifts.

“We have positions that would be perfect for college students, moms [in the area] or seniors,” Czegledi said. “We have flexible working hours, and are willing to work with them. It all depends on what people want — we want people to be happy, to come and to stay.

“We want to be on the forefront of customer service,” Czegledi added. “We want to keep our customers happy.”

For more information on Buzz’d, patrons can call (516) 962-9674 and visit their website buzzdexpresscoffee.com. Upon opening, their hours will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Sunday.