Backpack enterprise gets jolt from coffee
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Ben McMillen and his aunt, Bridget Vilenica, pour coffee beans into a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC.
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Coffee beans change colors from green to brown once they are roasted.
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Coffee beans from numerous locations will be available at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC in Waynesburg.
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Coffee beans are prepared in a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC in Waynesburg.
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Bridget Vilenica pours coffee beans into a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee in Waynesburg.
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Bridget Vilenica pours coffee beans into a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee in Waynesburg.
Coffee beans from far-flung locations such as Ethiopia will be available at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC in Waynesburg.Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
By Dave Zuchowski
Waynesburg resident Ben McMillan says he likes making things for himself. That’s one of the reasons why, when his thriving photography studio tanked because of the onset of the coronavirus, he was able to segue into a new enterprise to support his family.
Even before COVID, McMillan had enjoyed backpacking for six or seven years. With a background in graphic design, printing, sales and sewing, and a desire to make things for himself, he got to working his basement in September 2019. His new enterprise involved turning out backpacks, fanny packs, camera bags, dry bags and more, all with the help of his daughters, Danielle and Hannah.
A year later, he opened a shop on High Street in Waynesburg after a couple of prominent backpack YouTubers featured his products online under the label Hilltop Packs. With the help of family and friends, his business grew by leaps and bounds to the point where he now employs nine workers and markets his products online on the website hilltoppacks.com.
To date, McMillan’s bags, which can be customized according to the buyer’s specifications, have been sold online to some 17,000 customers in 37 different countries.
“The business has really taken off like a rocket,” said McMillan, who moved his enterprise to its current location at 1006 E. Greene St. in Waynesburg in July 2021.
But the Hilltop Packs story doesn’t end there. It continued and went in another direction soon after McMillan’s aunt, Bridget Vilenica, retired from her job as circulation director at the Observer-Reporter.
The ambitious pair began discussing what they could do together and lit on the idea of starting a coffee company.
“When we saw that no one in Greene County was roasting coffee, we thought it would be a good idea to fill that niche,” said Vilenica, a Clarksville resident
After buying an American-made coffee roasting machine capable of roasting 40 pounds of beans an hour, they opened Hilltop Packs Coffee at the Greene Street location on July 18, 2021.
“We first did a lot of testing and tasting in Ben’s garage before we opened,” Vilenica said. “It’s kind of funny because I’d always been a tea drinker, but I eventually developed a taste for coffee and now even have a favorite blend.”
The company sources beans from around the world, and, on their shelves, you’ll find bagged coffee that hails from places like Peru, Sumatra, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and everywhere in between.
“We usually stock 20 different single-origin coffees in the store,” McMillan said.
To give things a local flavor, the owners try to give their coffees names familiar to locals, such as Covered Bridge, Bucktown Elbow, Coal Dust and Old Town. A former Greene County resident, Lindsey Parks, now living in Canonsburg, brings in a selection of pastries she bakes to go along with the five or so brews offered daily.
For those with a sweet tooth, Hilltop Packs Coffee also offers flavored coffees like hazelnut, apple pie, banana nut bread and Winter Wonderland, a flavor McMillan describes as hard to define but one that’s bright and clean.
Tea drinkers can also select from a variety of loose and bagged teas, and those in need of coffee accessories will find everything from coffee grinders to French presses in the inventory.
Visitors to the store will also find local products such as honey, syrup, popcorn, soaps and candles on the shelves, as well as customized printed mugs and rustic signs.
By means of the company’s subscription service, customers don’t even have to drive to the store for coffee. They can order online and have coffee sent weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Customers can also earn points applicable to any item in the inventory with every purchase they make through the company’s loyalty program.
“Over the holidays and Valentine’s Day, we had phenomenal sales,” McMillan said. “In retrospect, you’d have to say the coffee component of our business seems to have caught on quite well.”
For more information, go to hilltoppacks.com and hilltoppackscoffee.com.