Foxy’s in downtown Barre is open for business.
For co-owners Doni Cain and Liv Dunton, the journey from initial plans three years ago to the cafe and bar’s opening in December has been a long and sometimes arduous one. They say the trip was worth it.
“We’re excited about Barre. There’s a new vibe with young people flocking to the city. If you’re a young family looking for a home right now, finding affordable housing is It’s hard, but where can you buy a house? Bare,” Kane said.
Foxy’s is located in the historic Wheelock House on Main Street. The building most recently housed the Barre Partnership and before that, the senior center. Built in 1871, it currently houses a law firm, bank, and power company.
The cafe will serve coffee, pastries and grab-and-go meals from morning until mid-afternoon, as well as a dinner menu featuring fresh, locally sourced, seasonal ingredients from 4 p.m.
Dunton said the journey from initial planning to completion was a little more difficult than expected. “Every part of this business took a little longer than we expected.”
The building flooded in 2023 and 2024, and renovation and repair costs were much higher than expected. Caine and Dunton ended up asking the Vermont Community Loan Fund for a much larger amount than originally requested, and they organized a “Gayla” fundraiser for Foxy.
There was also opposition to their project, at least initially, as some critics objected to the city, which owned the building, not selling it.
“The opposition was stronger than we expected,” Dunton said.
Last April, Barre City Council decided to sell the building to Kane and Dunton, rather than to a group representing the Barre Partnership, which had made the offer. Barre Partnership occupied the building for several years.
The council held a public hearing to decide whether to sell to Kane & Dunton or a group representing the Barre Partnership. Many supported Mr. Cain and Mr. Dunton, saying they would draw a young crowd to downtown Barre.
“Hundreds of people showed up to cheer us on and they crashed Zoom,” Cain said. “Out of the hundreds of people who gathered, only a few opposed us.”
One of the main reasons Kane and Dunton purchased the building was because they needed more kitchen space for their East Montpelier store. Dunton and Kane also own Fox Market and Bar on Route 2. All cafe meals sold there were homemade, and the building’s kitchen was too small to accommodate the growing business.
“Basically, we turned a closet into a kitchen,” Dunton says.
The large Barre kitchen accommodates both Fox Market and Foxy’s.
After three weeks of business, Dunton said everything is going as well as expected. “A community has emerged. We are slowly but surely building a loyal customer base.”
Kane said the building itself has an old building feel, which is part of the cafe’s appeal.
“We’re a space with a voice. We definitely have an antique feel,” he said.
Danton agreed. “It’s both antique and goth,” she said.
Before opening Fox Market, Cain was a manager at Plainfield Co-op and Hunger Mountain Co-op (where he met colleague Danton) and helped launch AR Market in Barre.
“We were blown away by how successful Fox Market was,” Dunton said. “We didn’t advertise or promote, and the business grew organically.”
One of the main priorities for both Fox Market and Foxy’s is to provide a safe and friendly space for the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s first and foremost a queer bar and a queer space,” Dunton said. “We’re going to be respectful of everyone. It’s a space where queer people who don’t feel comfortable in other bars can feel safe. We prioritize the safety of our queer community.”
Fox Market’s website calls it the “Queer Market,” and Foxy’s carries flags supporting transgender individuals.
Kane and Dunton see their business as affirming the revitalization of downtown Barre. In addition to recent businesses like AR Market, The Meltdown Restaurant, and Pearl Street, several new small businesses have opened downtown in the past year, including a clothing store, pool hall and bar, diner, grocery store, and wellness spa. We are now open. Significant expansions for Pizza and Nelson’s Hardware, and a new, larger location for Blanchard Block’s Next Chapter Book Store.
“We are excited about downtown Barre,” Cain said.
