BENNINGTON, Vt. (NEWS10) — Nicole Bozeman likes to say that she “accidentally” bought a bagel shop. She’s the owner of The Local, which debuted its new name with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday.

The Local, located at 704 Main Street in Bennington, used to be called Love A Bagel. In July 2022, former owner Paula Cross announced she was closing the business after 10 years. Bozeman then bought the shop and reopened less than a month later.

Bozeman moved to Vermont from Texas and opened a flower shop in Bennington called Wild Blossom. She originally wanted to add some baked goods to her shop and decided to buy Love A Bagel with the intention of only using it as a commercial kitchen.

“But I saw how sad everybody was to be losing another business in Bennington, and I just decided, why not,” said Bozeman.

When she reopened the business in August, Bozeman kept both the name and menu the same to reopen as soon as possible. Since then, Bozeman changed the name, hours, the menu and redecorated the cafe.

“We chose The Local for two reasons,” said Bozeman. “One, we really wanted a friendly place where locals want to hang out for breakfast and lunch. The second was just in hopes of when people think about supporting local, they think of us.”

The new menu features soups, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, yogurt, granola, pastries, and of course, bagels. You can view the full menu on The Local Facebook page.

“We really wanted to bring attention to the fact that we’re lunch also,” said Bozeman. “That’s probably what we focused on the most with changing the menu.”

Kari Cook, who had worked at Love A Bagel for eight years, is helping Bozeman manage the cafe. The Local is open every day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.