At 12:30 p.m. on June 27, more than 100 people stood in a prayer circle inside Coffee Connections at 4004 Main St. Then they helped the staff carry equipment out of the building. The Hilliard Herald recapped the Hilliard Beacon's account of that last day. A city inspection had found the floor sinking, and the shop had less than two weeks' notice.
The shop didn't leave Old Hilliard, though. By August it was pouring again about two blocks away. By September, the bakery that had shared a kiosk with it held a grand opening in a renovated car garage on the same street. Old Hilliard's building stock is about a century old, and that age is now deciding where things happen downtown. A failing floor sent one business two blocks down the street, and a renovated garage gave another its first real storefront.
What happened at 4004 Main
The building at 4004 Main St. dates to the early 20th century. Sharon Grenier, who co-owns Coffee Connections with her husband Nate, told Fox 28 Columbus it had been a World War II ration station, a bait shop and a bakery before it was a coffee shop. She told NBC4 that it never had cement under its foundation, only dirt. The shop had dealt with small floor problems for years, but this spring the problem spread into the customer area and pulled the counter away from the wall.
On June 17, the City of Hilliard and the Norwich Township fire marshal inspected the building. The owner was told to get a structural engineer's assessment within 14 days or have the tenant move out. The shop closed June 27. Coffee Connections had been at that address since September 2016. It won the Columbus Dispatch's CBUS Top Picks Community's Choice Award for favorite coffee shop three years in a row, 2023 through 2025.
"Coffee Connections isn't this building, it's the people."
Nate Grenier said that to the crowd on the last day, according to the Beacon's reporting as carried by the Hilliard Herald.
The shop's current setup takes that literally. It now operates out of the basement of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship at 4066 Main St., open Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon. It runs off the mobile coffee cart the business started with as a catering company in 2014. NBC4 reported that Sharon Grenier calls it a "cozy campsite." A longer partnership with the church has been discussed, but nothing is final.
A permanent home is still open. As of the Herald's Sept. 1 report, the owners said a new location was in the works, but they hadn't announced an address or a timeline. Nate Grenier had asked Westwood Collective founder Andy Warnock about Old Hilliard sites, and none of Warnock's properties were available. That detail shows how tight downtown space is right now. A large share of the storefronts that do open up have passed through one developer's renovation pipeline.
The garage that kept its shell
One of those renovations is now open. Ketchum's Garage at 4045 Main St. served Old Hilliard for decades as a Chevrolet dealership and later as an auto service center. When the owner retired, Westwood Collective bought the property and chose to renovate it instead of tearing it down. They split it into two tenant spaces.
Bakes by Lo, Laura Young's custom cookie and cake bakery, held its grand opening in one half on Sept. 12. The size change is the story here. Young started the business in 2020 in a stall of about 400 square feet inside Center Street Market. Crooked Can Brewing Company's owners had spotted her at a farmer's market and invited her in. The new storefront is about 1,600 square feet: roughly 1,200 square feet of kitchen, plus indoor seating and a small patio. "We were working with two tables at our old space," Young told Columbus Monthly before the opening, as the Hilliard Herald reported. Now four people can work in the kitchen at once.
The bakery also ties back to 4004 Main. Bakes by Lo serves coffee made with Coffee Connections beans, and the two businesses still share a kiosk at Center Street Market. The church-basement pop-up is closed Sunday through Tuesday, so on Sundays and Tuesdays the bakery is the place for the same coffee, a short walk away. Bakes by Lo is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Young plans to add pastries, croissants and kolaches.
The outside of the building got public help. The Hilliard Development Corporation gave a combined $70,000 grant for exterior concrete, painting, artificial turf, lighting, signage, bike racks, landscaping and outdoor furniture. Downtown manager Angela Zody said in the City's January announcement that the project supports local entrepreneurs while keeping downtown's character.
Cyclical Nature Bicycles will take the other half of the building. It's moving from 4566 Cemetery Road, but its own website still says it is "relocating to downtown Hilliard" and doesn't give an opening date or Main Street hours.
Where each Main Street address stands in October
| Address | What it was | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|
| 3987 Main St. | Legacy Smokehouse | Harvest Pizzeria planned, still listed as "Coming Soon" |
| 4004 Main St. | Coffee Connections since 2016 | Closed June 27 after the floor inspection |
| 4045 Main St. | Ketchum's Garage | Bakes by Lo open; Cyclical Nature Bicycles coming |
| 4056 Main St. | Former Chase bank | Lira and mixed-use project approved, completion targeted for early 2028 |
| 4066 Main St. | Cornerstone Christian Fellowship | Coffee Connections pop-up, Wed–Sat, 7 a.m.–noon |
Why the next openings are on a longer clock
The former Chase bank at 4056 Main St. will follow the same playbook as the garage, on a bigger scale. Hilliard City Council voted 6-0 on Aug. 24 to approve Westwood Collective's mixed-use redevelopment. It includes Lira, an Italian restaurant, plus apartments, offices and retail. In June, the City described a sit-down Italian restaurant inside the preserved bank building and new construction on the adjoining parking lot, with dining and retail on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. The plan Council approved calls for renovating the bank and building two new structures on the parcel, three buildings in all, about 23,000 square feet, according to the Herald. The developer is targeting early 2028 for completion, and as of the Herald's Aug. 28 report, no groundbreaking date had been announced.
Harvest Pizzeria is in a similar spot at the former Legacy Smokehouse, 3987 Main St. NBC4 reported the plan in June, and the company's locations page still lists Hilliard as "Coming Soon" with no date.
So for the rest of 2026, the downtown places with confirmed hours are the ones already open: Bakes by Lo, the Coffee Connections pop-up, and Center Street Market at 5354 Center St. Dojo Dumplings joined the market's vendor lineup on June 10, 614Now reported.
The rest of October on the same few blocks
The fall calendar mostly runs through the same stretch of town.
- Wednesday, Oct. 14, 4:30–7 p.m. Taste of the Town at The Makoy. The Hilliard Area Chamber's event offers food and drink tastings for ages 21 and up. Details on Destination Hilliard.
- Thursday, Oct. 22. Live music with the Driving Guitars at Crooked Can Brewing inside Center Street Market.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 9–11 a.m. Halloween Haunt downtown. This free morning has trick-or-treating at participating Main Street businesses and at Hilliard's Station Park, plus photo ops, live music by Mr. E, balloon twisting, and Columbus DanceArts Academy performing its Haunted Hip Hop. The event goes on rain or shine, and any cancellation for unsafe conditions will be posted on social media.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m. Trivia Tuesday at Crooked Can, which continues Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24.
- Thursday, Oct. 29, 6–8 p.m. Citywide Trick or Treat.
The Halloween Haunt route ends up passing every address in the table above. A Saturday morning that starts with costumes on Main Street can end with a cookie from the old garage. Bakes by Lo opens at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, and the Coffee Connections pop-up at 4066 Main runs until noon.
Holiday events will use the same blocks. The Downtown Hilliard Tree Lighting is Sunday, Dec. 6, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. across downtown and Weaver Park. Holly Hop: Sip, Shop & Stroll follows on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. On Sunday, Dec. 13, Santa in the Train Station runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Historical Village & Museum at Weaver Park.
If you own an older home near Old Hilliard and the Main Street buildings have you thinking about what's under your own floors, or about what a well-kept century-old property is worth today, The Lundquist Group is happy to talk it through with you, at your own pace. Schedule a Free Home Consultation, and we'll walk through what the age and condition of your home mean for your plans.
