The Journey of a small coffee shop.
Ok. If a grand barista were to come into our tiny shop they might walk away with their head shaking. We are not just a coffee shop but we also have the basics in groceries, including toothpaste, eggs, milk, bread and cheese. We also have a couple of video games, a 5 ft Wizard gumball machine, 139 authentic autographs on the walls, Our espresso maker is a Saeko Vienna plus which is a super automatic espresso maker for the home rather than commercial ( it does make good espresso however). We serve gourmet coffee which can also be bought by the pound, two computers hooked to the Internet and free WIFI. Believe me, we have covered all the bases.
We originally we going to be just a coffee shop but we are in a town of about 750 people. When we opened, we had no grocery store. As a matter of fact, the only businesses in town are a pizza/sub shop, two high end restaurants, another restaurant whose quality of food does not fit their prices, a bar (which has since closed down due to civil problems and a boat shop. Since we opened two years ago, a liquor store/convenience store has opened down the street which is taking many of our customers.
Anyway, here we are. We are attempting to educate the town folk on the merits of gourmet coffee and tea instead of the sludge they get from some of the shops that are a few miles out of town. We have our regular customers that have been faithful for the past two years. But let me say this....the existence of the shop is getting critical. Being a seasonal town and waiting for the tourists to come in, it is getting hairy. Today, we have sold less that $30 in merchandise. That doesn't even pay the electricity. We have no employees, it is just my wife and I and poor Sharon has another job besides Main Street Station.
The good news is that we are a place for the kids in town. Until we opened, the only place for the kids was a broken down basketball court and two toddler parks. Not much to offer teenagers. Now they have a place to go after school that keeps them out of trouble.
If there was an extreme makeover for coffee shops, we would certainly be in the running.
We originally we going to be just a coffee shop but we are in a town of about 750 people. When we opened, we had no grocery store. As a matter of fact, the only businesses in town are a pizza/sub shop, two high end restaurants, another restaurant whose quality of food does not fit their prices, a bar (which has since closed down due to civil problems and a boat shop. Since we opened two years ago, a liquor store/convenience store has opened down the street which is taking many of our customers.
Anyway, here we are. We are attempting to educate the town folk on the merits of gourmet coffee and tea instead of the sludge they get from some of the shops that are a few miles out of town. We have our regular customers that have been faithful for the past two years. But let me say this....the existence of the shop is getting critical. Being a seasonal town and waiting for the tourists to come in, it is getting hairy. Today, we have sold less that $30 in merchandise. That doesn't even pay the electricity. We have no employees, it is just my wife and I and poor Sharon has another job besides Main Street Station.
The good news is that we are a place for the kids in town. Until we opened, the only place for the kids was a broken down basketball court and two toddler parks. Not much to offer teenagers. Now they have a place to go after school that keeps them out of trouble.
If there was an extreme makeover for coffee shops, we would certainly be in the running.
Comment
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Comment by Hugh Mooney on February 27, 2008 at 6:30pm
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Richard; I believe my "reminding" the obvious has little to do with it. It's you, and your family's efforts, that will provide the support to your community. If you deliver them a good, fairly priced product they will support you.
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Comment by Richard Watters on February 27, 2008 at 2:00pm
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Thank you for your comment. As a matter of fact, one of the area newspapers come in about an hour ago wanting to do an article on how the kids went before the town council asking for something to do and the reporter was told to come and talk to me about our shop and how we have been an outreach to the kids in town. We had about 14 kids ranging from 1 1/2 to 22 in here at the time. One teen told the reporter that if Main Street Station closed, Port Deposit would fall apart. The reporter was overwhelmed with what the kids were saying. I will report on the article when it comes out. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes you just need someone to remind the obvious.
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The challenges of operating a specialty coffee business in a community of 750 is something I can't quite imagine. But this I do know, your efforts in working with the kids will not go un-rewarded. Perhaps not in ways that are immediately apparent, although it could be, but certainly the remuneration will be bestowed, and, as so often happens, at a time most needed or most appreciated.
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