Two young entrepreneurs have opened their own board-game lounge in Greater Sudbury and it's not the first time starting a business for one of the owners.
After eight weeks of renovations, Café One has officially opened its doors in the New Sudbury area of the city.
20-year-old university student, Ben MacKenzie, along with 19-year-old Brodie Siren, decided to create their own board game establishment.
This is MacKenzie's second time starting up a business in Sudbury.
"I think what really helped me was being able to start my first business was very scalable, so I could start small and slowly build it. Then I think the savings from that helped invest into this one, and then also having a partner in it with you together, you're not taking on all the risk by yourself." said MacKenzie.
Although the city already has a board game café located downtown, Let’s Scrabbalatte, the pair says there is not enough for people to do in the city.
"There is really nothing to do here in Greater Sudbury. We were kind of looking for something to do, and we thought about something alcohol-free, and something with a nice atmosphere, where you can just kind of hangout and play board games, or do homework, or whatever you want to do." said Siren.
Café One employs ten people, all university, college, or high school students. Maddy Laframboise is one of those employees.
"A lot of us are focusing on doing stuff like this, so it's cool to get an understanding of seeing kids like almost our age, like they're only twenty years old. So, seeing how they're running things and seeing how they have already done so much for their age." said Laframboise.
Many customers attended the grand opening on Saturday.
"I heard it's great coffee, different flavours, something that nobody else has, and you can also hangout and sit and play games, which is great for all ages, right? Young, older, more mature." said Carole Perrin.
"We love to support local businesses. I told them to surprise me with this one, I think they put ice tea and lemonade in it, and this is a strawberry banana smoothie." said Danika Danis about the drinks she had ordered.
Café One is open seven days a week, and the owners say people of all ages are welcome to stop by and enjoy the various board games.
