"Thinking back to how I grew up, supermarkets didn't really sell that much fresh meat and produce; instead, every neighborhood had a butcher, a baker and a green grocer," Allen Brown told the Bainbridge Island Review in a story published October 22. Brown owns The Blind Butcher, the whole-animal shop he opened in 2025 after 13 years at Amazon. He's taking that neighborhood idea to a spot most people would never think of. The new shop is going into Coppertop Park, a 12-building business park set around a shared lawn, about two miles north of the ferry.
Coppertop already has a baker. It has a coffee roaster, a brewery, a winery and a distillery too. Each one makes its product right there, across the same parking lot, and has for years. Once the butcher opens, a single business park off Sportsman Club Road will be the most complete food-making address on the island.
What Gets Made Across One Parking Lot
The Blind Butcher's website lists its future neighbors by name. It says the shop will open at 9720 Coppertop Loop NE, "joining Bainbridge Brewing, Fletcher Bay Winery, Bainbridge Organic Distillers, Sweet Dahlia, and Storyville Coffee at Coppertop Park." Here's what each of them actually does there.
| Business | Coppertop address | Made or done on site | Saturday hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storyville Coffee Roasting Studio | 9459 Coppertop Loop NE | Coffee roasting, cupping, house-made pastries | 7:59 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Sweet Dahlia Baking | Coppertop Park | Scratch breads, pastries, donuts, soups, weekly Dinner Club meals | 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Fletcher Bay Winery | 9415 Coppertop Loop NE, Suite 102 | Main winemaking site, barrel samples | Noon to 8 p.m. |
| Bainbridge Brewing taproom | 9415 Coppertop Loop NE | Year-round, seasonal, barrel-aged and sour beers | Check before going |
| Bainbridge Organic Distillers | 9727 Coppertop Loop NE, Suite 101 | Organic vodka, gin and whiskey | Check before going |
| The Blind Butcher | 9720 Coppertop Loop NE | Whole-animal butchery, with curing and smoking planned | Not open at Coppertop yet |
Notice how much of that table is production. Fletcher Bay calls Coppertop its main winemaking location. Its winemakers are around to answer questions, and the tasting room pours from the barrel. Storyville calls its space a Roasting Studio and Tasting Room, and it offers guided tours of the roasting studio along with coffee cupping. Bainbridge Organic Distillers makes its whiskey under the Yama, Forty Saloon and Battle Point names, alongside its vodka and gin. In each of these buildings, the product is made a few steps from where it's sold.
A Block That Filled In One Trade at a Time
Coppertop's food tenants arrived one at a time over about a decade. In a 2023 story on businesses outside of Winslow, the Bainbridge Island Review traced how each tenant arrived:
- 2008: Fletcher Bay Winery began making wine. Coppertop was its first location, and its Winslow tasting room followed in 2018.
- 2009: Bainbridge Organic Distillers opened as Washington's first USDA-certified-organic-spirit distillery.
- 2012: Bainbridge Brewing began brewing, with a focus on classic styles and lower-alcohol beers.
- 2017: Sweet Dahlia started as a wholesale bakery and then added retail once it needed more room.
The Review's write-up lays the pattern out plainly. The winery's first location was here and its downtown tasting room came later, and the bakery opened its retail counter here after outgrowing its wholesale space. Bainbridge Brewing runs a downtown alehouse too, and its brewery taproom is at Coppertop. Business-park square footage is what these trades need, and Winslow storefronts can't easily offer it.
The Blind Butcher is moving for that same reason. Right now the shop runs out of a commercial kitchen on Three Tree Lane that it shares with Clair Younker Moe, owner of Fig and Spice. Brown described that setup to the Review as a way to grow the business while learning what customers want. The Coppertop shop will have more than 800 square feet of kitchen and processing space, so the butchers can take on curing, smoking and air-drying meat. That work is processing, just like roasting coffee or aging whiskey, and it fits the block's whole character.
What the Butcher Brings to the Lot
The Blind Butcher sells beef, pork, chicken, lamb and turkey from small Washington farms that practice regenerative agriculture. Its approach is whole-animal butchery, which means finding a use for every part of the animal. According to the Review, the shop takes USDA-inspected meat and does its processing and packaging in-house. Brown hopes to add farm partners over the next few years, including farms on Bainbridge.
Brown has two butchers working with him. Jeffrey Stone is a master butcher who has done whole-animal work since his teens. Joshua Cornwell is a senior butcher who trained as a chef at Michelin-starred restaurants. The menu has a personal angle as well. Brown and his wife, Leandri, grew up in South Africa, and he told the Review they hope to bring some South African flavors into the shop's products. He also talked about drying his own biltong, the traditional South African air-dried, cured meat. With the curing and air-drying space at Coppertop, that kind of product becomes a real possibility.
The opening date is still up in the air. The shop's website says it opens "later in 2026." Brown told the Review he's hoping to move in by Christmas, though construction delays could push the opening into early 2027. Until then, orders are placed online and picked up at 8895 Three Tree Lane, Unit 9. The shop doesn't deliver or ship. The site's homepage and contact page list different pickup hours, so check with the shop before you head over.
Holiday Cooking While the Shop Is Still on Three Tree Lane
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, and the island's usual November sources are about to shift. The Bainbridge Island Farmers Market homepage lists its Saturday season at Town Square at City Hall as running through November 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. That's the Saturday before Thanksgiving week, so plan any market shopping for that weekend or earlier. The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art holds its Mercado on November 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For the main course, The Blind Butcher's site says turkey is available in season. It also takes special requests, advice on an upcoming meal, and bulk orders of a quarter or half cow or hog by text or call at (206) 804-6404. Since the shop cuts to order and you pay at pickup, a holiday roast means a conversation with the butcher well ahead of the date.
Coppertop can cover the rest of the table. Sweet Dahlia runs a weekly Dinner Club of take-home meals along with its breads and pastries. Fletcher Bay accepts reservations at its Coppertop tasting room, which has a heated, enclosed patio and a children's loft. Bainbridge Brewing's taproom is all-ages, with a patio, pinball and arcade games, and an upstairs event space.
Finding the Lot and Timing a Saturday
Coppertop sits just off SR 305 and Sportsman Club Road. Bainbridge Brewing's directions are to turn from Sportsman Club Road onto NE Business Park Lane and then onto Coppertop Loop. On Saturdays the hours stack up nicely if you start early:
- Morning: Storyville closes at 2 p.m. every day, so get coffee first.
- Midday: Sweet Dahlia is open until 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Its posted hours cover Tuesday through Saturday only, so plan bread and Dinner Club pickups for those days.
- Afternoon: Fletcher Bay opens at noon on Saturday and pours until 8 p.m.
- Anytime: Check the brewery's and distillery's current hours directly before you go.
If you're curious about Coppertop or any other part of the island, Kimberly and Jack McLaughlin are always glad to talk it over, and a cup from Storyville's tasting room is a fine place to start. Make time for coffee, and schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.
