Smells of fresh coffee brewing and sounds of live music playing. Sights of customers flipping through vinyl in the distance. Conversation flowing throughout the room. You open the door and hear the ring of the bell. Welcome to Black Dog Vinyl Cafe.

Black Dog Vinyl Cafe is located on 16108 South Route 59, in Plainfield, Illinois. The business is owned by Mike and Cathy Marchetti. They had the idea for a record store three years ago. Over time they have added coffee, live music, and alcohol to their business. 

“The vision was just for a record store and everything else grew out of that original vision. The cafe grew from brainstorming several ideas. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but after working in a warehouse for 30 years I knew I wanted to try and be my own boss. M. Marchetti said. “We took our love for music and came up with the idea of a record store. We researched different record stores, for example, Nashville London BLB Cafe, and we decided to sell craft beer, coffee, and live music, bringing all our favorite things together.” 

Mike and Cathy have enjoyed all the new and old faces they get to interact with. They love being a part of Plainfield’s community and meeting great people. 

“We’ve met some really good people and that’s been the best part of Black Dog being a part of the community.” M. Marchetti said. “Having people come in on Sunday afternoons and play games, even though games aren’t really part of the cafe, it still happens, it’s fun to see.”

Many students who attend Plainfield Central enjoy spending time and shopping at Black Dog Vinyl Cafe. Cathy comes up with all the drinks like the seasonal cocktails and lattes available right now. She also does the seasonal decorations in the cafe.

“They have really good coffee and it’s a comfortable place to study. It has a Homey feel to it and cool decor. The owners are very kind as well.” Layla Forrest, senior said.

Lots of people within the community like the activities that happen at Black Dog. One of those activities is the open mic, which even the owners enjoy. 

“I love our open mic. It takes place once a month. It varies from professional artists to the people who only participate in Black Dog’s open mic. I like that evening because it’s such a broad spectrum of people.” M. Marchetti said. 

Several students at Plainfield Central also enjoy the open mics hosted at Black Dog Vinyl Cafe. 

“I’ve enjoyed their open mics. I’ve played guitar and brought friends.” Jax Arroyo, freshman said. “The owner is really nice. It’s got good people, a good atmosphere, and good music too.”

Other businesses like School of Rock Plainfield also play music at Black Dog. 

“Black Dog is a good place to hang out. I like seeing my friends at School of Rock play and get cassette tapes.” Logan Bartleman freshman said.  

There are now several vinyl shops within Plainfield and people throughout town enjoy them all. Although other coffee shops have had a negative impact on Black Dog. 

“The addition of record stores has not hurt my record sales as much as the addition of the Starbucks across the street has hurt my coffee sales.” M. Marchetti said. 

Mike and Cathy put in a lot of effort to grow their business. They’ve added three new record shelves recently and have greatly grown the number of records available for purchase.  

“We’re working towards bigger and better! We are at about 10000 records now and when I opened I was at about 1200.” M. Marchetti said. 

Even Black Dogs customers can appreciate the improvements within the business.

“You can tell the owner likes his job and cares about it.” Annabelle Seum senior said. 

The owners are also elated by Black Dog Vinyl Cafe’s immense success in growth.  

“As the business plan stands now I am very happy with it. I like that it’s become what I thought it could be and what I wanted it to be. It has exceeded my expectations.” M. Marchetti said.