After walking under the earth brown awning, you walk past the mini coffee shop that sells coffee, pastries, and Fenton’s ice cream. Along the same wall is the kitchen, which cooks entrees and contains the deli. Five chalkboards line the back, showing their menu items, including the sandwiches of the year and their regulars.

From Hometown Hero sandwiches and chips to smoothies and iced mochas, this neighborhood market fills a niche as the town’s only grocery store and coffee shop.

Behind Mulberry’s Market are owners Chad Olcott, Laura Pochop, and Virginia Davis. In 2007, Olcott and Pochop opened the store together to cater to Piedmont’s need for a community market. Like many parents, they moved to Piedmont for the schools and welcoming community.

The store at the time, Bonfare Market, was not a good place for coffee, to meet friends or to bring children, Olcott said. To fix that, they decided to open their own store in its place, despite their inexperience in owning a business.

“We had no business doing this at all,” said Olcottt, who worked at a non-profit before the inception of the local mart. “We thought it would be a fun place to go as customers, but we didn’t know if it would be a good business,” Pochop said.

In order to fit in with Piedmont’s community, they listened to customers to make the store uniquely personal.

“Every decision we made from the coffee bar, the type of coffee, the sandwiches, kinds of sandwiches, and kind of groceries came from the community,” Olcott said.

To improve the market, they worked on their deli with Davis, a lifelong chef with mutual friends, and she became the third co-owner about a year after the store initially opened.

“We were trying to get the food to Piedmont’s standards, and we were struggling with that,” said Olcott. “That was a moment that was pivotal. From there, we had a partner and a chef, and then our food was good, and the customers responded.”

Every sandwich at Mulberry’s is named after someone who was instrumental to creating the market, Pochop said.

Because it is Piedmont’s only market, there are often familiar faces making quick trips, or sitting outside on the benches.

“I like it when people plan to meet a friend here, from middle school kids, elementary school kids to grandparents,” Pochop said. “And I like it when people run into each other, like people who haven’t seen each other in years.”

For Olcott, that is what makes the job enjoyable.

“My job is fun,” Davis said. “I think everyone who works here has a fun time. Even though you’re at work, you get to see friends and say hi.”

The daily peak of business is lunch, when students flood the market in packs with their friends. For junior Franklin Johnson, the shop is a convenient place to buy lunch.

“I like that Mulberry’s has such a broad selection of foods,” Johnson said.

To the entire Mulberry’s staff, the children and students are especially important.

“We are grateful to Piedmont High School students,” Olcott said. “I feel like by and large, you guys are both great customers, and loyal, and we appreciate that.”