Andrew Fitch knows what it takes to transform a dark and dormant storefront into a classy yet down-to-earth rendezvous for locals and visitors alike. Steeple City Social — a cafe, bar, and lunch spot sandwiched between Eagle and Main Street in North Adams — was opened in March 2025 by Fitch and co-owner Meghan Daly. Steeple City is a key establishment in the movement to bring the downtown back from a business downturn.

North Adams began to face economic decline when Sprague Electric, the town’s main employer, closed its doors in 1985. As a result, a significant amount of the younger population and families left the mill town. A 2006 report by the North Adams Center for Creative Development highlighted how the disruption “crumpled the existing social structure, leaving residents unsure of where they fit into the scheme of things.”

For Steeple City Social, addressing the effects of this disruption is a key part of their mission. Fitch said that the shop has been reviving downtown by generating regular foot traffic. With Steeple City’s long hours — 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday — North Adams residents can get a coffee, pastry, and sandwich for lunch or meet up to have a drink later in the day.

Meghan Daly, the store’s co-owner and menu designer, is the backbone of this operation, making good, homemade food with something for everyone. Steeple City Social’s sandwiches are a small handpicked selection of traditional favorites, like a sliced egg sandwich or herby turkey, alongside options like vegan banh mi. “I always try and have at least a few vegan options on the menu,” Daly said in an interview with the Record.

To keep things fresh, Daly said she rotates the menu as the seasons change. “We sort of keep the categories of things,” she said. “So we always have a muffin. We always have a scone of some sort. We switch up the sandwiches. It keeps it fresh for everyone.”

Steeple City’s varied and accessible menu reflects the business’ diverse clientele. On a typical Friday afternoon, the storefront hosted a couple with young kids, an older man reading a book, and eight high schoolers hanging out on two wide couches. According to Fitch, students at the College and professors have also shown up quite a bit, along with those from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, who are just a short walk away.

For Fitch and Daly, having a mix of the North Adams locals, newcomers, and tourists in their business is exactly their aim. “We figured an even mix in like a third of each of those categories would enable us to succeed and to make it through the winter months,” Fitch said. “We didn’t want to just be a tourist place, because we’re locals ourselves. We wanted our friends to be here.”

From the start, Steeple City has been by the locals, for the locals. In 2025, Fitch and Daly started a successful Kickstarter campaign for the business that raised $22,421 for equipment, licenses, permits, materials and inventory, and other start-up costs. This contribution allowed the two to transfer from working at A&M Bakery, their weekly breakfast sandwich and coffee stand, to operating Steeple City Social.

Today, Steeple City Social is the culmination of the community’s generosity and the owners’ hard work. Beginning in 2021, Fitch worked with an architect and engineering firm to renovate the space, putting up a wall and installing an accessible doorway. Daly used her previous experience running a bakery in Brooklyn, bringing her knowledge of not only food preparation but also how to handle payroll tasks and insurance. According to Daly, between the two of them, Fitch is more happy to respond to emails and has a talent for connecting people, highlighting how the two depended on each other to create Steeple City. “If Meghan just all of a sudden didn’t exist … there’d be a basket of apples on the counter and coffee, and some wine,” Fitch said. “Meghan really brings so much knowledge in.”

Fitch and Daly are just two of the owners working to maintain businesses in downtown North Adams. Other new spots include Hexagon Bagels and Door Prize Restaurant on Main street. Fitch hopes these businesses, in combination, will start a positive feedback loop for reviving the area.

Fitch hopes that as people go out to eat at new restaurants, they go into shops that they might not have entered otherwise. “I think [that once] we can generate more foot traffic for downtown North Adams, then the shops, the galleries, and the other kinds of businesses will probably do just a little bit better, be a little more sustainable, and stick around,” Fitch said. “Maybe others will see businesses like ours growing and succeeding and so that they’ll try it as well.”