Wilmette's Central Station Coffee + Tea Reflects On 5 Years Downtown

WILMETTE, IL — Five years after opening in downtown Wilmette, Central Station Coffee + Tea owner Katie Degen said she is proud of how the cafe has grown into a community gathering place centered on quality and customer service.

Degen, a Wilmette resident, opened the business in 2021 during the pandemic after spending a decade at home raising her children. Though she had a background in hospitality and marketing, Degen had not previously operated a coffee business.

To prepare, she said she spent years researching the industry and visited more than 400 coffee shops around the country.

“I was able to like pick apart and pick the pieces of everything that I loved about those coffee shops, and then really hone it in and make it very Wilmette. I built this coffee shop for Wilmette, and I feel like people get that when they see it,” Degen told Patch.

Degen said community has been central to the cafe’s mission from the start. Central Station works with local fire and police departments, as well as the library and schools, as part of that approach.

Degen also said the cafe supports local artists through a rotating artist of the month program. Under that effort, local artists can display and sell their work on the walls, which the source said has created an opening for first-time artists to put their work before the public in an approachable setting.

That program has led to additional offerings, including weekly sketching and watercolor classes from a resident artist. The business has also previously hosted writing classes, mahjong classes and French classes as part of a broader effort to bring different parts of the community together.

One of the cafe’s larger partnerships is with Go Green Wilmette. Degen said that partnership has helped move the cafe to a point where it is “almost zero waste.”

“We try and be as eco-friendly as possible, and you see that in every aspect of everything we do,” Degen said.

Central Station is in downtown Wilmette at 1150 Central Ave., and it has a bodega for commuters at the Wilmette Metra train station.