What's Brewing? Local coffee shops adapt to pandemic

Michelle Billionis: Online sales have remained steady since April.

Jeremy Hahn: Fairbanks Coffee serves as a training ground for employees.

• 
• 

As the classic Americano makes room for trendy nitro cold brews on menus, coffee shops themselves are reinventing their business model, bottling drinks, offering delivery and supplementing services to adapt to a new normal.

“The way things have been changing, more people are working out of the office but still need a space to work, and that actually works well with a coffee shop,” said Matthew Picking, owner of the newly opened Melancholy Roasting Springfield. “I kind of see coffee shops as something that might even be more vital to the community as we move forward.”

Picking and his brother, Caleb Carmichael, founded Melancholy Roasting LLC in 2018, starting out with a roastery, a shop in Ava and a coffee subscription business. On Aug. 31, Picking opened a second brick-and-mortar shop at 3049 S. Fremont Ave., in a space formerly occupied by now-shuttered Able Coffee & Provisions and Free Solo Coffee. The legacy of the building and the uncertainty of the present don’t hinder Picking’s plans.

“There was not a lot of hesitation to go through with it because, at this point, I feel like a lot of things are heading in the right direction, and all the other things might not change any time soon,” he said, referring to the pandemic. “I don’t know if I wait a year that this will be any different.”

Never too old
Even established coffee shops have needed to adapt to stay afloat. Downtown, The Coffee Ethic LLC shook up the business model it’s had in place since 2007. Owner Michelle Billionis said before the pandemic, she and her team had been exploring online ordering and bottling its cold brew coffee and draft lattes. Once stay-at-home orders went into effect, they immediately went mobile, teaming up with David Soper of Mother’s Brewing Co. to launch a bottling line. The Coffee Ethic also began to deliver drinks and subscription bags of coffee.

“What was tough was this is a community space where people gather,” Billionis said.

The deliveries helped Billionis stay connected to her clientele until restrictions loosened. She said The Coffee Ethic saw a slight increase in online sales when the pandemic first hit, and they have remained steady since April.

The Mudhouse, in business for 21 years, also implemented online ordering and curbside delivery and began bottling its signature cold brew, according to its Facebook page.

Picking is working on similar adaptations for Melancholy Roasting Springfield, including online ordering and curbside service. But he said even his business in Ava saw an increase during the pandemic.

“A lot of what I was surprised by in Ava was that it continued to do well during all of this,” he said. “It’s been really more of a foundational business in Ava, and it’s been a lot more of a part of the community. Business has picked up a lot down there.”

Beyond the beans
Other shops are staying relevant by offering services beyond drinks. At Fairbanks Coffee, the Life360-run coffee shop within The Fairbanks, a partnership with Jobs for Life positions the coffee shop as a lunch spot and an employment training ground for program participants.

“We are more than coffee,” said Jeremy Hahn, executive vice president of Life360 Community Services. “We are working to inspire individuals not only to better employment for themselves, but also to inspire individuals to be entrepreneurial.”

Through the Jobs for Life eight-week program, three individuals have either shadowed or completed an internship with Fairbanks Coffee, learning customer service, barista skills marketing and communications.

Managed by Daniel Rost, Fairbanks Coffee opened March 1; it’s had several relaunches after stay-at-home orders were lifted. Fairbanks Coffee serves For Victory coffee, supplied by Victory Mission. Hahn said Life360 Community Services supports Victory Mission’s objective of providing paid employment, licensed mental health care, overnight shelter and case management.

“It’s always been our vision at Life360 as we were launching programs to create jobs within our space, and out of those jobs create opportunities for others to learn all the skills they need to be successful in work,” Hahn said.

Other shops are testing out the coffee-plus concept. Storytime Coffee Co. in Rogersville is a nonprofit business under The Story Church, providing a community space with a goal of giving back to community organizations, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Some shops are taking advantage of nearby retail spaces to position themselves as more than just a place for a drink.

Franchisee Morris Dock is opening Seattle Roast Coffee Shop in the former home of Bistro Market later this month, and he is seeking to add a grocery or market tenant to the remaining vacant space, according to past reporting.

Common Grounds Coffee & Cafe LLC in Strafford has a new next-door neighbor in Pine & Picks LLC floral and home decor shop, also owned by Common Grounds owner Michele Eden.

Expressing optimism
Nationally, leisure and hospitality businesses have been hardest hit by the pandemic, with food services and drinking establishments accounting for a loss of 5.5 million jobs in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And of all the restaurants listed on Yelp that closed after March 1, 60% have closed permanently, according to the Q2 Yelp Economic Average Report.

Even chain coffee shops are feeling the pinch. Starbucks announced the closure of 400 stores and reported it experienced a quarterly revenue loss of $3.1 billion.

As the nation starts to recover, there are some signs of industry improvement. National employment in food and beverage accounted for three-fourths of job gains in the leisure and hospitality industry in August, and market research firm Technavio anticipates a 13% compounded annual growth rate over the next four years for specialty coffee shops.

Springfield’s coffee scene is showing signs of this optimism, with expansions, franchises and new ownerships in the works.

Springtown Coffee Co. in the Galloway District sold to new owners Jess and Van Malter, who reopened the shop in June.

A second Springfield location of Classic Rock Coffee opened on Walnut Street in the Brewery District Flats on May 11, offering coffees, shakes, smoothies and baked goods.

And Kingdom Coffee’s second location at Lone Pine Avenue and Battlefield Road is under construction.

Plans for the new shop include a new food menu and outdoor seating according to previous SBJ reporting.

According to Picking, the desire to create spaces that foster connection is stronger than ever.

“I just realized how special a coffee shop is and how special it can be when you know the people working there,” Picking said.

“What I really want to create is a place where people can come in and have a conversation. Conversations are something that I’m really passionate about lately with all this separation.

“As we come back together, I’m realizing that people do still need each other. I want this to be a place where people feel that community.”