Many changes have occurred this school year, and One North Coffee and Bake Shop has not been passed by in this trend. The coffee shop, a beloved haunt for the townspeople of Mercersburg and the students of the Academy, enters a new chapter.
In early 2024, Lena Eckstine, the previous owner of One North, put the coffee shop up for sale. Three members of the Mercersburg Academy community, English teacher Todd McGuire and school archivist Doug Smith, as well as Matt Pixler, spouse of art teacher Kristen, jumped at the opportunity.
“I’ve always liked One North for one thing, but I wanted to find a way to connect more to the community. One North is the business that incorporates our school and the community the most,” said Smith.
Eckstine wanted to keep the coffee shop in the community and saw McGuire, Smith, and Pixler as the perfect option. Once the sale was finalized, the three men set out their plan for the new One North. Their first order of business was the shop's relocation. “We are moving back to One North, the original site and the namesake,” says McGuire.
Currently, One North resides at the historical Irwin House (Archibald Irwin was the direct ancestor of two First Ladies of the United States). While cozy, the house is very small, so it cannot hold a proper kitchen. The limited kitchen space makes it hard to get food and beverage orders in a timely manner. The new owners wanted to resolve this issue. Their objective with the location change wasn’t just to return One North to One North Main Street but to obtain a space with a large enough kitchen with specific areas for the bakery, the coffee, and the food.
“The move has been our focus, but what we have been working on is establishing a framework for a scratch kitchen, a bakery kitchen, and that has been our main goal. It has always been part of the plan to get new facilities and put together a kitchen. We have been working on acquiring equipment for it and expanding,” said Smith.
For a week, the coffeehouse has been closed in order to move equipment to the renovated original location, but there will be a soft opening on Saturday, October 5.
Still, Academy students are ready for the reopening. Yiting Sun ’25 said, “I’m super-excited that there will be some familiar faces there and what new changes they’ll implement.”
As for the location change, Elie Shimaoka ‘26 says, “ I think it’s going to be bigger, so I’m excited about that.”
No matter the differences, McGuire, Smith, and Pixler are adamant on keeping that cozy, homey feeling. “There’s going to be nooks, and little study areas and a large study table. Better seating arrangement is in our plans,” said Smith.
This intention aligns with some of the things that the students want to remain. Sun said, “I hope they keep the various types of seating and the environment in which people can either study or hang out or just enjoy a coffee and a sweet treat.”
McGuire, Smith, and Pixler are up for the challenge and ready to do everything they can to make One North as great as possible. There will be a grand opening later this month, so look on the One North Instagram page for updates.