West Coast 'coffee coaches' filling building vacancies

|tab|

A drive-through coffee shop is taking a shot at the Springfield market.|ret||ret||tab|

Two Oregonians, Don Reneau and his son Chris, hope the West Coast drive-through coffee shop phenomenon catches on in the Midwest.|ret||ret||tab|

The Reneaus opened their first Hot Shots "coffee coach" in St. Louis last month, and now are focusing on the Springfield area. Springfield's first Hot Shots opened for business Nov. 22 at 2000 N. Glenstone Ave. The Reneaus have plans for a second spot at 1510 N. National Ave., which will open before Christmas.|ret||ret||tab|

"We want to service all of Springfield," Chris Reneau said of the business plan, which calls for five locations by 2004. "We're just going to start small and see where it goes.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're from Oregon and they're pretty popular over there. Just because something works in one area, doesn't mean it's going to in another."|ret||ret||tab|

Reneau said St. Louis, which has two other drive-through coffee shops, has been receptive to Hot Shots, and he hopes Springfield will embrace the idea as well. Hot Shots serves gourmet coffees, cappuccinos, espressos, latts, teas and hot chocolate, primarily to morning commuters.|ret||ret||tab|

Coffee coaches small, permanent buildings that cost about $50,000 and have drive-through lanes cater to coffee lovers on the go. Quick customer service and accessibility are stressed, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

While coffee coaches are a business venture unproven in the area, Hot Shots proprietors are giving a breath of new life into some vacated buildings, said Bart Collins, leasing agent for the two Hot Shots properties. Collins is a Realtor with Mellinger Commercial.|ret||ret||tab|

Collins would not disclose the lease prices for the two Hot Shots locations.|ret||ret||tab|

The National Avenue property, near Division Street, had been vacant several years, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"This building hadn't even had the power on the whole time and no one had even opened the door," Collins said. "This is a great boost for that property. If this catches on, that is a great utilization of that site because it's been an eyesore for a while."|ret||ret||tab|

The Glenstone Avenue site was vacant for about a month after the fast-food burger joint Munchkin's closed.|ret||ret||tab|

At a time when strip malls are popping up around the city and struggling to get filled Collins said it's important to find tenants for special-interest spaces like these.|ret||ret||tab|

"These need to be stand-alone, drive-through type places for this type of business," he said. "If you notice in a lot of those strip malls there is a considerable amount of vacancies in town." |ret||ret||tab|

But the strip malls do fill a need; the demand just isn't meeting the supply right now, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

That discrepancy isn't yet a scare for the local real estate market, he said, because the market hasn't been deemed flooded, "but we're getting close. If the economy picks back up, it will be just fine. I guess there is not an abundance of users out there, but there are enough users for the high-quality spots."|ret||ret||tab|

Collins said the Reneaus are looking for an East Sunshine location as well.|ret||ret||tab|

They also would like to hit Joplin after testing Springfield's waters.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's a new concept," Chris Reneau said. "You never know how it's going to do."|ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]