Grounded owner Kalei Haggett prepares a drink at the Wiscasset shop the morning of Friday, Feb. 28. From lattes to Americanos, Haggett prepares drinks with coffee sourced from Camden’s Coffee on the Porch. (Piper Pavelich photo)
With support from family, friends, and the community she has been part of all her life, Wiscasset resident Kalei Haggett aims to serve customers a good cup of coffee in a relaxing environment at her new shop, Grounded.
Located in the same building as Possibilities Salon, at 147 Gardiner Road in Wiscasset, Grounded opened to the public on Friday, Feb. 28. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day, Haggett is behind the counter, prepared to serve drinks using coffee sourced from Camden’s Coffee on the Porch.
“I just want to be here for people and create this space that feels like your living room, but just with a good coffee,” Haggett said.
On the menu at Grounded are classic offerings, including lattes, Americano, and espresso. For those who don’t drink coffee, Grounded offers multiple types of tea and hot chocolate.
The Gardiner Road shop was dreamed up by Haggett after some changes occurred in her and her family’s life, she said.
Starting out as an office staff member at Kennebec Marine Services in West Bath, Haggett spent years working toward a management position. However, climbing the ladder to secure the job of operations manager wasn’t everything she had hoped it would be, she said.
“It was everything I thought I wanted, and I got to that position and I was like, ‘What am I doing? I’m not happy,’” she said.
After about three years, Haggett left her job in July 2024 to care for her two youngest children after the family lost its child care service.
While at home, Haggett said she had time on her hands to do some “introspective work” on herself and her career aspirations. With her love of coffee and her passion to find her calling backing her up, she created and proposed Grounded to her husband, Cody Haggett, who she said has supported her since the beginning.
“He was like, ‘I mean, if you want to do it, I’m not going to say no, but do you know what you’re doing? Do you know what you’re getting into?’ And I totally didn’t, but I had so much passion,” she said.
The idea of being her own boss, her love for a good cup of coffee, and her dedication to her community fueled Kalei Haggett to make her vision a reality. While she was unfamiliar with details such as where she would source coffee from, Haggett said she spent many years learning the ins and outs of what it takes to succeed in the food industry from her grandparents, who own Sprague’s Lobster, at 22 Main St. in Wiscasset.
Haggett said the Wiscasset community was in need of a coffee shop that is accessible to many people, whether they’re sitting in the shop with their latte on a Monday morning or grabbing an espresso on their way to a Saturday afternoon basketball game at the Wiscasset Middle High School.
“We have Dunkin’ and we have Treats, and, besides that, I was having to drive to find good coffee, and that’s nonsense,” she said. “I just said, ‘You know what? Someone needs to do it, and why not me? I can do this.’ You know? ‘I can do hard things.’”
Haggett said she began leasing the space in November 2024. She and her family quickly got to work redesigning the interior, which included painting walls, putting up wallpaper, and installing shelving units.
Her business license was unanimously approved at the Dec. 17, 2024 meeting of the Wiscasset Select Board.
Haggett said her journey to opening Grounded has included many “full-circle moments.” In addition to once working as a receptionist at Possibilities Salon, she said the select board member that suggested the acceptance of her business license was her childhood neighbor.
“It’s so cool to be in my own town, and I know these people and these people want to support what I’m doing … I’m happy to be here,” she said. “It turned out to be everything that I hoped it would be.”
Haggett said no matter what walks of life her customers come from, everyone is welcome at Grounded.
“(Coffee is) one of the only things that, no matter your race or religion or, you know, your political stance or where you’re at financially, in your life, it’s just one of those things for everybody,” she said. “It’s something that, across the board, everybody can enjoy … I mean, almost everybody, and that’s why I have stuff on the menu that’s not coffee.”
Grounded is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 147 Gardiner Road. In addition to the menu’s offerings, paintings hung around the shop by Wiscasset resident Chantel Nelson are for sale.
For more information, email grounded.wiscasset@gmail.com or find Grounded on Facebook and Instagram.
To order online, go to groundedwiscasset.square.site.
