(I feel like I keep spamming this thing, but there's just a ton of cool news!)
So I got to talk to Shmanny last night about the coffee shop where she works at Purdue, called Greyhouse Coffee (http://www.greyhousecoffee.com). Man guys, God is a funny one. Basically I just explained to her (or tried anyway) what we summed up in our vision posts/business meeting and then asked her what her shop is like. And she basically said that everything I just described is what their shop is. So I mean, regardless of the fact that it would be awesome to go there, and we can't, what a cool affirmation that something like what we want is out there, and it's working!
Greyhouse is kind of like Red Rock in that it's owned and run by a church, but with the added twist that they're focused on college ministry like we might want to be. Just like downtown Davis would be, they're not on campus, but just a few blocks away, making them a really convenient hub for students to go hang out.
I tried to explain the whole customers:campers::staff:staff::community:dock hands metaphor, and she said that's pretty much their goal too. She doesn't know how they do it without being discriminatory or even asking really, but all the staff are Christians and ministry to customers is part of their training, à la SupesUlt. First they learn about making drinks and all the machinery, and then they talk about having conversations with customers, being intentional with regulars, etc. It sounds like pretty much all their staff are Purdue students too, which is really cool. It sounds like they have a LOT of staff, so they can work around people's school schedules pretty easily, something which probably won't be in our future, at least for a while, but is good to note.
And as for the quality issue that Barlow mentioned, Greyhouse is definitely all over that. They're fair trade, and really legit about the quality of their coffee and drinks. They use Intelligentsia Coffee (http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/), which doesn't really mean anything to any of us at the moment, but I'm researching it. Apparently they're really good. She also she she could find out who their suppliers are for other things and let me know.
Oh, and ALL their coffee is french pressed. I knew I liked these guys.
Another thing that makes them distinctive (and we should probably think of something along these lines) is that they also have crepes and gelato. Granted, crepes isn't going to set us apart much in Davis, but it would be really good to have a little something else besides coffee and pastries, so maybe we can brainstorm that one.
The one thing I don't necessarily like about Greyhouse is that they're open on Sundays. They're really good about switching schedules around so employees only have to miss church about once a month, but I'm pretty adamant about being closed on Sundays. I think that intentional example is a really important part about ministry to the community.
And in her personal opinion, we should have one exposed brick wall because it makes any coffee shop that much cooler. Hahah.
And one final side note: the wedding is either going to be in August if the BF graduates on time or December if he doesn't. If you wanted to know. :)
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And now two unrelated things:
One is this link: Mistakes to Avoid in Setting Up Your Church Coffee Shop
And two is that I forgot to mention that Mike O and I talked a lot about membership stuff in the car as well. I know we've talked a little bit about having "regular mugs" like they have at the little ice cream place in Walnut Grove, so Mike and I talked about the actual practicality of making that happen, how much the initial cost would be, the question of free refills. Again, I wish I had more constructive things to post about it, but I wanted to at least make a note of it here as something to think about.
That's all, folks! Love you both. Talk to you soon.
