State College officials and community members joined together on Saturday morning for the unveiling of a tribute to a community-minded businessman who worked to bring people together over a good cup of coffee.
“Craig’s Way” now appears as the ceremonial name of Kelly Alley on the West Beaver Avenue corner where Craig Avedesian operated Saint’s Cafe for 22 years. A plaque memorializing Avedesian, who died in October 2023, was also installed on the side of the building at 123 W. Beaver Ave., where Elixr Coffee now resides and carries on Saint’s Cafe’s tradition.
Borough Council approved the ceremonial naming in 2024.
“Craig was the kind of person who shaped community not necessarily through grand speeches and bold headlines, but through quiet consistent acts of kindness and of care,” State College Mayor Ezra Nanes said. “He believed in this town. He believed in its people and he built something here that continues to inspire us.”
The longtime president of Federal Carbide Company, Avedesian’s start in the coffee shop business grew from his compassion and community spirit that left a lasting legacy. He was a frequent patron of Saint’s Cafe’s predecessor, Cafe Gourmet, and quietly paid the bills to keep it afloat when the business began to fail.
After Cafe Gourmet closed, he and his wife, Mary Kay, opened Saint’s Cafe in 1999 to continue offering a place for good coffee and conversation, a place, Nanes said, “where everybody was welcome.”
Avedesian’s son Matt said Craig’s Way is a throughway connecting to community and the heart of downtown. But it’s also something more, representing what his father believed in and the example he set in life.
“It’s a way of life,” Matt Avedesian said, “Family, community, business — they go hand in hand, and my dad was a real reflection of that. So Craig’s Way is, how can you help your neighbor? Having this here is a memory for all of us. Not only for my dad, but how we can treat each other and continue to grow together as a growing community.”
When the Avedesians decided to step away from the coffee shop in 2021, they kept the community in mind.
They ensured its place in the community would continue by seeking out the owners of its successor Elixr Coffee, which opened in the space in January 2022. (Inside the former home of Avedesian’s business on Saturday, Elixr Coffee also honored his memory with free cups of an espresso and cold brew combo they dubbed Craig’s Way. )
That transition stood out to Lee Anne Jeffries, executive director of the Downtown State College Improvement District, who knows how vital “community-building” businesses like Avedesian’s are to the downtown.
“Many people will close the doors, leave and don’t think about the lasting impact,” Jeffries said. “That didn’t happen in this case, and they did it in a way that kept our community in tact, that grew what they started at Saint’s. So it’s a testament to Craig and Mary Kay and their amazing family of how that business left a lasting impact. It’s not just a coffee shop. It is a cornerstone for our community.”
Avedesian was active in building the community beyond the walls of his coffee shop. He advocated for other local businesses through the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County and DSCID. He was also committed to community involvement and fundraising for a number of charities, including initiating the Our Lady of Victory Teachers Trust Fund and helping found the Clare Dahlia Snetsinger Memorial Fund.
“[Craig’s Way is] a beautiful and fitting tribute because Craig had a way — a way of making people feel welcome, lifting others up, building something lasting out of kindness and care,” Nanes said. “His love for community lives on, not just in the name of the alley, but in every corner where people come together to support one another.”
