A Coffee Shop with Baked Goods is Welcoming Lee Customers

Bliss Crumbs and Coffee opened on Main Street in January, taking the space where a former T-shirt company, Twisted Orchard, had been located. 

LEE, Mass. — Bliss Crumbs and Coffee is a new shop on Lee's Main Street that has been open for a couple of months.

Owner Becca Bliss Lilley said she loves when she bakes and decided one day to just open her own shop and leave her former position as a human relations manager.

"I think everyone can relate. You're at work and you just get annoyed with things, and I left there one day. I loved my job, don't get me wrong. I loved my job and I loved the people I worked with," she said. "Just left one day and I told my husband that I'm opening up a coffee shop, whether he liked it or not, he said, 'OK, let's do it.' So that was really it. You know, I just always wanted to bake, and I am happier when I bake."

Lilley was thinking about this back in September and came upon 77 Main St. She opened Jan. 12. 

She makes her baked goods fresh every morning and loves to see the joy it gives customers.

"I started baking when I was working at a bed and breakfast when I must have been maybe 22. I messed up on my first batch of scones, horribly. And then I just, I don't know, I just like doing it. It's just relaxing," Lille said. "I like the pleasure when you're feeding someone like when you're giving someone a baked good and they enjoy it, it really makes me happy. I also like giving baked goods to my friends and my family, and, you know, hearing their reactions. It's also just stress reducing. It's just very relaxing."

Lilley says her baked goods vary when it comes to the most popular -- she thought it would be chocolate chip cookies but while popular, the monkey bread muffins were a real hit.

"Most recently, it's been my scones. It varies," she said.

Her menu also varies as she bakes what she feels like making for the day. But she always makes sure there's one or two gluten-free options in the case.

Since opening, she said her community has been great, including the businesses around her.

"I think every place down here has been just such a great support system. And it's really great to see coming into a town that you grew up in, and a lot of them are people that you have gone to school, that I've gone to school with, or have known throughout my life, which is really lovely as well, but they've been just really supportive. The community has been really supportive," Lilley said.

She has also opened her cafe up to two community events: a knitting circle and a book club. She provides some baked goods and coffee and tea and the clubs are free to join.

Some advice she would give to someone else doing this is to just do it.

"I think just go for it. You're never going to be ready. I've constantly wanted to do something forever and always said, I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm still not ready. And I'm three months into it, so, like, I'm still not ready. Don't doubt yourself."

Her kids helped come up with the name Bliss Crumbs and Coffee -- her maiden name is Bliss and they wanted to remember their dog Crumbs. She says she also wanted to open a business to show her kids that you can do what you want to do.

"I also want my children to witness their mother doing something, to go for their dreams. A lot of times being a mother, you're kind of stuck in this one role that you're working. You go home, you do this," she said. "I just want my kids to see me accomplish something and follow my dreams."

The cafe is open every day but Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lilley is considering expanding those hours for the summer.

Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Friday, August 21, 2026

 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said.