Common Soil Juicery, a juice bar and restaurant on 37 South Washington Street, celebrated its fourth anniversary last month.
The Juicery, which opened in Binghamton’s Southside neighborhood in 2022, provides “high-quality, nutrient-dense, organic food” in the form of smoothies, juices and smoothie bowls. Establishment owners Riley Stichter, president of Strong Green, Inc., and Julie Chambers ‘12 told News 34 they can’t believe that their business has been open for four years.
Stichter told Pipe Dream in an email interview about the inspiration for his juice bar.
“I grew up with a family that juiced at home, so I was fortunate to be raised with a health-minded foundation from a young age,” Stichter said. “After college, I helped family start a juice business in Indiana — where I’m from. From there, I went into the corporate world for several years, but as I was looking to move to New York, felt a draw to provide a direct value to the community, so my business partner, Julie Chambers, and I started to explore options to bring a health-minded, 100% organic juice bar to the Binghamton area since there was nothing like it here.”
Common Soil Juicery provides a range of juices with organic vegetables like beets, kale and cucumbers. Offering a juice cleanse for $45 a day, the juice bar also recently acquired an espresso machine to make organic lattes and plans to expand its menu even further.
The juicery uses 100 percent organic ingredients in its juices. According to Common Soil’s website, “[organic] farmers build the health of the soil, protect water quality, and contribute to a more sustainable, healthy food system.”
In an interview with News 34, Chambers explained that running a small business requires a lot of extra time and effort to maintain its operation.
“With every small business, it takes a lot of extra hours to put together what you see in the dining room,” Chambers told News 34. “So, we’re just really happy to have the community support that we do to have made it this far as a small business.”
Stichter is optimistic about the future of the business, particularly as Binghamton University contributes to the growth of the local market. He also said that he hopes to expand his business by opening more locations.
“There is still a lot of opportunity within the Binghamton market for growth, especially with the University,” Stichter said. “Long-term we are looking at expanding our reach by opening another location, or two, within the surrounding area.”