Weedsport 2010 Alum, nurse, wife, mom, and now business owner. Amelia Bucci-Taylor is all these things. She has many talents and is very good at perfecting them the way she likes. “I was a nurse, then after I had my son I stayed home. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go back to nursing, especially with Covid, so I decided to start roasting coffee as a hobby – then it flourished,” said Bucci-Taylor.
On September 6th, 2023, Amelia officially opened her company called White Rabbit Roastery in downtown Weedsport. Currently, the hours are Monday-Friday 6 am-2 pm, Saturday 7-12, and closed on Sundays. The roastery got its name White Rabbit from the movie “Alice in Wonderland” which is Amelia’s favorite movie. The most popular drinks right now are “Down the Rabbit Hole” or “White Rabbit” which are both specialty drinks.
White Rabbit has a big impact on Weedsport. It’s a quiet place to sit down and order drinks or breakfast that you can’t get anywhere else nearby. It’s different from Dunkin, it’s personable and super welcoming. Whenever you walk in someone will greet you with a smiling face. It’s the kind of place Weedsport needs. It’s also great that Amelia is a Weedsport Alum, it’s a familiar face to most people which is always nice. Soon the business is hoping to expand to sitting areas outside to make the place even more welcoming and comfy.
“I’ve always had a dream of having some sort of shop or something in town,” said Bucci-Taylor.
Adrihanna Collins, a senior at Weedsport, goes to White Rabbit often. Although Adrihanna is not a coffee person, she gets the tea. Her favorite tea is the London Fog tea because “it feels like winter, in a good way.” She explained how White Rabbit is super welcoming and loves the sound the bell on the door makes when it opens and closes.
Starting a business is a lot of work and with that can come many hardships. Bucci-Taylor loves working for herself. She explained how she likes only to have to answer to herself. But also if things go wrong there’s not always somebody behind her to help out. The hardest part for her is having to do everything from start to finish. “Housekeeper, ordering, boss, whatever, it’s just all you and you have to keep track of all the things and that can be difficult and overwhelming.”
Although she is the owner, she does not work alone. The roastery is family-run by her, her husband, her mom, her dad, and Dee who is an extended family member. They all work their hardest to get White Rabbit running with “quality and consistency.”
Before the actual building of White Rabbit was built, Bucci-Taylor did a lot of pop-up events. She would serve coffee at markets or car shows. This has slowed down due to the rush and responsibility of having the shop now. She would like to hopefully get back to doing these events and wants to one day have a White Rabbit truck or trailer. But overall, she and the rest of the workers can’t wait to see how White Rabbit will grow and expand among the community.
