CARROLLWOOD — Trey and Hailey Scott are taking a leap of faith.
They already took one when they started Good Fruit Coffee Roasters, a mobile coffee and catering business where Trey serves up brews and Hailey offers home-baked goods.
Now the couple is taking another — this time as the new tenant at Bearss Groves, where they plan to renovate the venue to house a cafe built around their coffee and baked goods business, along with live entertainment, more food trucks and vendors and the widely missed farmers market.
“The whole reason that we’re starting this business,” Trey said, “is we have four kids and want to do something together as a family that allows us to serve the community. … And too many things happened to not, to be a coincidence, that we felt like God was pulling us in this direction. So, we had the faith to take the leap — that’s the best way to put it.
“If everything falls into place the way it should, then I think we can make this an awesome community hub, where people want to get together and have fun. And we hope to have that open to the community in the fall.”
The Scotts announced themselves as the new tenant in March, after owners Barry and Courtney Lawrance opted not to renew a lease with the former tenant. That tenant came in after hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 and reopened after repairing damage from the back-to-back storms. Bearss Groves, which has operated as a farmers market for 130 years and boasts a 400-year-old live oak on the property, was purchased by Barry Lawrance in 2008. He grew up working there as a kid.
The Scotts launched their mobile coffee truck in November 2025, stationed just up the road from Bearss Groves. Trey, a physician assistant at Tampa General Hospital, cut to part time to build out a trailer for the coffee business.
The truck was a vendor at Bearss Groves before it closed temporarily, and the Scotts have also taken it to events in Wesley Chapel. They bring the truck to Carrollwood Village Park for “Slow Saturdays,” a weekly tradition where park visitors can get their coffee fix at the popular park.
“I actually grew up as a child here in Carrollwood,” Trey said. “I actually hadn’t realized that I had met Barry as a child, too, but he was doing Christmas tree (sales) and we started chatting.
“When my wife and I started this coffee trailer,” he said, “we thought about how cool it would be to have a small local farm or a farmers market with either a coffee shop on it, and a bakery, so people could come and experience the farm and see the animals and buy their produce and get a cup of coffee and have breakfast or lunch. He thought that would be cool, too, and he was like, well … and this was supposed to be a dream down the road a bit, but (Barry and I) kept the conversation going and when (Bearss Groves) became vacant, we were just pulled in its direction. So, Barry’s been great and helpful and he’s going to work with us to get us set up and the market back, too.”
Hailey said she’s excited to bake at Bearss Groves because there is a commercial kitchen just dying to be used — instead of turning out jalapeño cheddar scones, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, croissants and sourdough from her home kitchen.
“I’m stoked to get into that kitchen (on site),” she said. “I just won’t be baking out of my home by myself. So, we’re gonna be able to get a whole bread oven. It’s not just out of my one, tiny oven. It’s gonna be pretty incredible. I’ve just always loved to bake and cook, but then just coming into this and getting the market back and more food trucks — it’s all really exciting that fall can’t come soon enough.”
Work is well underway at Bearss Groves, where the Scotts have lofty plans to nearly completely renovate the place. They put a tractor on site to use, but also reached out to the community for helping hands — and got an overwhelming response, with dozens showing up on Fridays to help the family of six with changes, upgrades and repairs.
“We’ve had so much community excitement,” Trey said. “We had so many people messaging us (on social media where we posted the request) and telling us how much this place means to them. Even before we posted about the community cleanup, people were messaging us, letting us know if there is anything we can do for you. We live in the neighborhood behind (Bearss Groves) and people in that neighborhood we’ve never met were offering us tools, equipment, time and that’s incredible.
“People desire to feel this in the community again,” he added. “We’re thankful to give them that. This is a beautiful example of our heart behind all of this — it’s a business, right? We want to make a livelihood, but ultimately, we want to continue to build up this community and give this community a place where we can have a little family that meets together, and our kids can know each other, and play together, and just come, enjoy life and enjoy each other’s company.”
If you go
Good Fruit Coffee Roasters
1316 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa, FL 33613