Pictured Above: Emma Bixler (left) and Lindsay Bixler are the new owners of The Campus Grind. Their parents, Dennis and Stephanie, own The Tavern at Bayboro next door.
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
By Annalise Anderson
The Campus Grind reopened Wednesday under new ownership.
Lindsay Bixler, a USF St. Petersburg alumna, has returned to campus – but this time, she has a different agenda.
Bixler and her sister, Emma, are the new owners of The Campus Grind. The sister team are the daughters of Dennis and Stephanie Bixler, the current owners of The Tavern at Bayboro.
Prior to becoming a first-time business owner, Lindsay Bixler was in management at YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg and worked at The Tavern for several years. Her sister received technical culinary training and worked as a Starbucks barista. They plan to put their heads together to keep The Campus Grind going strong.
“This is definitely a first for me, but I feel confident,” Lindsay Bixler said. “I’ve wanted to do something bigger ever since I graduated, and I just didn’t know what I wanted to do. Then this just kind of happened… It’s like everything just fell into place.”
Lindsay Bixler said that working next door to her parents is a “huge help.” Her mom shares wisdom about “the business side of things” and her dad acts as an on-call handyman.
Lindsay Bixler looks forward to sharing loyal customers with her parents.
“I’m excited to see familiar faces in here rather than over (at The Tavern),” Lindsay Bixler said. “Of course, I love pouring people beer, but it’ll be fun to pour people coffee.”
The coffee shop continues to serve delicious roasts, hand-crafted drinks and breakfast foods. Come January, the sisters hope to offer a larger selection of teas and food.
The biggest changes to The Campus Grind have been cosmetic. The mural inside the dining room has been painted over, old artworks have been removed and furniture has been rearranged.
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
Lindsay Bixler hopes to display students’ artwork on the coffee shop’s walls and encourages people to stop by to show her their work. She said another mural may be painted in the future, but they are aiming to reinvent the space into something “more modern.”
“It’ll be a different vibe, a different atmosphere,” Lindsay Bixler said.
Live music and poetry nights are future events Lindsay Bixler is looking forward to hosting at the coffee shop.
“We’re so excited to serve (the students) coffee and get to know everyone,” Lindsay Bixler said. “Also, I got the best Wi-Fi that Spectrum offers.”
USF agreed to provide The Campus Grind with a new Bull Bucks machine free of charge. It should be installed and ready for student use in the coming months.
The coffee shop is not currently hiring additional staff. New hires will be dependent on customer revenue during the spring semester.
The Campus Grind is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and allows customer use of its dining room.
