ALPENA – After nearly eight years in business, Cabin Creek Coffee has become something of a victim of its own success.

So owner Mollie Allen has opened up a second location in the Alpena Mall just in time for the holiday shopping season, and on Friday shortly after 12 p.m. customers were giving the new mall location a hearty welcome.

The downtown cafe has been doing so well that it has reached the capacity of what the building can hold, Allen said. She loves being one of numerous local businesses there, but knew hers needed to expand.

“We’re excited to be here, we’ve had a really good customer response,” she said. “Our regulars were excited and the mall patrons were excited.”

Cabin Creek’s kitchen at the mall also is better suited to handle the cafe’s catering business, Allen said. The second location offers the original spot’s full menu so customers won’t have to choose between the two. It also has a small area for seating and offers wireless internet.

With the coming of a new hotel, downtown Alpena businesses are set to see even more traffic, Allen said. She has a solid customer base there as is, some of them from existing businesses, and wanted a second location to help offset any future growth there.

The downtown has a good community feel, where owners of local businesses help each other out and new arrivals are coming in, Allen said. One recent new business is The Local Basket Case, where she and her employees sell clothing and gifts with a regional theme. The cafe’s mall location has a few offerings from this store, and she’s considering a satellite locations for the boutique in a nearby town.

That same local feel can be found on US-23 South, Allen said. While a few local businesses are along the M-32 corridor west of town, including Cabin Creek’s supplier Hubbard Lake Coffee, most businesses are “big box” retailers or large chains. As more chains locate there, the real estate prices have taken off.

Allen credited Brian Winter, Cocoa Capital president, for revitalizing the mall after the company bought it three years ago. She had been talking with him for a while about the idea of a second location and decided in October to make it happen. Inside of six weeks they were able to have it ready for Black Friday with the help of other local businesses and suppliers.

“The mall gives us excellent traffic, and we can also bring a lot of people in here,” she said.

Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jt_alpenanews. Read his blog, A Snowball’s Chance, at www.thealpenanews.com.