HAMLET — For Brenda Coble, owning a brick-and-mortar bakery is “a dream come true.”
Coble, along with her business partner Tammy Lampley, opened Riverside Bakery and Coffee Shop in November on Hamlet’s Main Street.
While she has been selling cakes, muffins and other delicacies under the Riverside name since 2001, Coble has been baking for about 25 years, becoming Wilton-certified in 2003.
A transplant from Illinois, Coble started selling cakes when she lived in Moore County, later moving to Richmond County in 2015, where she didn’t really know anyone except family.
“Baking is my passion,” she said. “My brother … said, ‘You need to do this, you need to get serious about it.’”
So she did.
When the Depot began having food trucks twice a month on Fridays, Coble first sold canned goods like jams and jellies, slowly introducing baked items.
The business name has nothing to do with proximity to any body of water. It’s named after her grandson, River, who was “always on my side.”
Coble said she and her sister had talked about owning a baker and coffee shop for years.
“Honestly, I’m getting too old to be setting up, breaking down, sitting out in the cold, sitting out in the rain,” she said. “But this has always been a dream, this was the goal.”
In the early summer, Coble and Lampley decided to meet the goal. They found the building in June and began renovations — which included closing off a wall and door, building an entryway to the pantry and kitchen, and an overhaul of the back of the building.
Coble said the landlord, Steven Webster, has been very supportive.
“Hamlet needed something … a place where people could come and enjoy a cup of coffee or something to eat,” Coble said. “We’re really hoping people come down and enjoy this place.”
In addition to the baked goods and coffee, Riverside offers a limited breakfast menu with pancakes and waffles. Coble said the plan is to expand the menu and offer lunch items.
Customers in the past few weeks have included both locals and Amtrak passengers waiting at the Depot on a layover.
Aside from food, Riverside also has free shelf space for local vendors — featuring jewelry, dog treats from Foster’s Fresh Canine Cuisine and books by local fantasy author T. Russell Parker — with items sold on a cash-only basis.
(Disclosure: Lampley is the mother of Parker, who works for the Richmond Observer.)
Coble said she doesn’t take a cut “because I know how hard it is.”
“There’s sometimes you don’t make any money, “ she said. “I’ve been there, I know.”
There is also both a book and plant exchange at the shop.
In the past month, Riverside has hosted Coffee with a Cop with the Hamlet Police Department, as well as a board game club. There is a gingerbread competition this Saturday, Dec. 13.
A grand opening is planned for January of 2026, after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
