Coffee Exchange Proves to be a True Brew in Providence

As coffee roasters proliferate across Rhode Island, a Fox point classic remains a dependable mainstay for old-timers and newcomers alike.

14 hours ago

Lauren Clem,

Photography by Lauren Clem

Charlie Fishbein, owner of Coffee Exchange, shows some of the shop’s roasted beans. Photography by Lauren Clem

Coffee has come a long way in the ocean state.

From just a handful of family-owned roasters sold in grocery stores (looking at you, Mills Coffee Roasting!) to more than a dozen specialty brands of all scales and varieties, the state’s coffee culture has bloomed since its early days. Whether you’re looking for fair-trade, small-batch, slow-roasted, decaf, flavored or just a good old cup o’ joe, chances are you’ll find your style at one of Rhode Island’s locally owned coffee roasters.

But there’s one roaster that’s had our hearts since the mid-’80s, when hipsters haunted the College Hill Bookstore and WBRU still played over the airwaves. Coffee Exchange opened on Providence’s Wickenden Street in 1984, back when “specialty coffee roaster” was unheard-of in the local parlance and the drive-thru was a daily ritual for most of us.

“When we opened, there was nothing except Dunkin’ Donuts,” says owner Charlie Fishbein.

The Fishbein family originally operated four food businesses in Providence, including Ziegfeld’s Jewish deli in Davol Square and the local Cook’s Connection chain of cooking stores (which once hosted a visit from Julia Child). In the 1980s, however, the family fell on hard times, and all four businesses closed. Charlie took a job at a Boston hotel, while his brother, Bill, pursued a lifelong dream to open a coffee shop. The original Coffee Exchange was located at 214 Wickenden St. (the current home of Amy’s Place) and focused on selling roasted coffee beans for customers to brew at home.

“That focus on keeping the coffee fresh, that was one of the mantras that kept us going,” Fishbein says.

Employee Raine Wood at the counter. Photography by Lauren Clem

In 1990, the family purchased the building across the street and began renovating it into the shop’s new location. Originally the rectory of Our Lady of the Rosary Church, the building had alternately hosted a clothing store and a neon sign company. The ground floor space opened in 1991 as the Coffee Exchange that customers would recognize today, with chairs and tables for reading newspapers and socializing.

Shortly after, Charlie stepped up to run the business as Bill pursued a new passion. A few years earlier, Bill had traveled to Guatemala, where he witnessed the poverty affecting Indigenous coffee farmers. In 1988, he founded Coffee Kids to support coffee-farming families in Latin America, followed in 2008 by the Coffee Trust, focused on the San Gaspar Chajul region of Guatemala. For the past thirty-six years, Coffee Exchange has held a 1st Cup fundraiser on New Year’s Day, where employees donate their time and 100 percent of sales support these organizations. Over the years, Charlie became known as the face of Coffee Exchange, while Bill continues to run the Coffee Trust from his home in New Mexico.

An old photo shows Charlie, right, and his brother Bill in the shop’s early years. Photo courtesy of Coffee Exchange

Walking into the shop today, customers are instantly hit with the aroma of freshly roasted coffee. The store sources 80 percent of its beans through Cooperative Coffees, a coffee importer focused on developing sustainable, equitable relationships with small-scale farmers. Beans at Coffee Exchange’s Wickenden Street location are sourced from throughout Central and South America, Asia and Africa, and its former employees have gone on to found their own coffee roasters, both in and out of state.

With more coffee shops than ever offering specialty brews around Rhode Island, Fishbein says, interest continues to rise in thoughtfully produced and roasted beans.

A customer approaches the counter at Coffee Exchange. Photography by Lauren Clem

A pandemic-era renovation left the first floor mostly unchanged and added a second-floor seating area. Photography by Lauren Clem

“Today, virtually all of our coffee is both organic and fair-trade certified,” he says. “It’s not unusual for someone at the counter to ask about processing methods or flavor profiles.”

In 2020, the Coffee Exchange faced its greatest challenge yet when the store closed in-shop sales due to the pandemic. For close to two years, employees served cups from a walk-up window on the patio, and bean sales shifted online. Fishbein took advantage of the pause to implement some much-needed renovations to the building. When seating reopened in 2022, customers for the first time had access to a revamped second floor, available for quiet study or to rent out for events. The first floor was left largely unchanged, except for a relocated condiment counter that allowed for an easier flow of customers.

“We kept everything that needed to be kept, and made the rest of it better,” he says.

Roasting still takes place in a bright red Diedrich roaster visible from the counter, where longtime employee Mike Carr has been roasting beans for nearly thirty years. Another longtime roaster, Ben Gaul, stayed with the shop for nearly sixteen years before moving on. Photos on the walls memorialize long-ago staff members, and a series of frames on the basement stairwell recount celebrity visits, such as when Woody Allen’s Irrational Man filmed at the shop.

“Everybody in this place is part of a family,” Fishbein says. “Both sides of the counter — we’re part of a family.”

One aspect of the business that hasn’t returned post-pandemic is late-night hours. While he’s looking into the possibility of entertainment, Fishbein says evening hours remain challenging from a staffing and sales perspective. His primary focus is on keeping the daytime experience the same and serving the first-rate coffee the business has become known for over the decades.

“There’s a sense when you walk into Coffee Exchange — you walk in, and you know you’re going to be enriched when you walk out,” he says. thecoffeeexchange.com