FYI - take heart

[Gochf...@aol.com]

Beloved Coffee Shop Saved for $1

MICHAEL McLAUGHLIN

(Oct. 15) -- The owners of a rural Washington coffee shop sold their business for less than the price of a cup of joe so their loyal customers wouldn't lose their beloved hangout.

Instead of closing the 1504 Coffee Bar on Whidbey Island, Jessica Leon and her silent partner unloaded the unprofitable café for $1 to a local couple who promised to keep the coffee flowing at the 21-year-old store and also to continue to employ the two part-time baristas.

"We don’t need more bad news. We live in a very small community on a small island," said Leon, 44, explaining why they virtually gave the café away. "If one more place closed, it would be depressing."

Skip over this content

Stories That Made Us Smile

Courtesy of Jessica Leon

69 photos

Jessica Leon, left, sold her struggling coffeehouse to Lauryn Taylor and Chris Jacobs for $1 rather than let the beloved hangout go out of business. "We didn't want to close down this institution," Leon told AOL News. "This is where people meet their friends. This is their club." The "adoption" of the cafe will also provide continued employment for its two baristas.

(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=551383&pid=551382&uts=1287157228

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Stories That Made Us Smile

Jessica Leon, left, sold her struggling coffeehouse to Lauryn Taylor and Chris Jacobs for $1 rather than let the beloved hangout go out of business. "We didn't want to close down this institution," Leon told AOL News. "This is where people meet their friends. This is their club." The "adoption" of the cafe will also provide continued employment for its two baristas.

Courtesy of Jessica Leon

Courtesy of Jessica Leon

The owners called it quits after four years of serving lattes and muffins in the town of Freeland on the island about 30 miles north of Seattle. Business was good enough to cover expenses and the employees' wages, but it put practically nothing in the owners' pockets, Leon said.

They put the faltering coffee shop on the market in April asking for $40,000, the South Whidbey Record reported, but they couldn't find any takers, even after they slashed the price in half.

With time running out on their lease, they hastily launched a hunt in September to find an entrepreneur to take the reins.

Dozens of people responded to the adopt-a-coffee-shop campaign. Leon met prospective merchants with detailed business plans and fielded calls from dreamers who just like the idea of owning a café.

"We didn't want to close down this institution," Leon told AOL News. "This is where people meet their friends. This is their club."

Married couple Lauryn Taylor and Chris Jacobs bought the coffee bar last week after making the strongest pitch to reinvigorate the store, the Seattle Times reported.

"It's going great," Taylor told AOL News on a break from learning to pull a proper espresso shot. "We love the customers, and they're thrilled that the coffee shop is going to stay open."

The search for new owners to swoop in came as local businesses have been ailing in Freeland.

Retail sales fell 7 percent last year, according to chamber of commerce executive director Chet Ross. Although the rescue of the 1504 Coffee Bar won't have a major impact on the town's economy, it sends a positive message.

"It's a feel-good story," Ross said. "It's one of those little shops that's an institution."

It was an impulsive decision to take the helm for Taylor, a former gallery owner, and Jacobs, who has worked in the restaurant industry. But it also fulfills their desire to own a business together.

"These are thoughts that have been in our mind for a while," said Taylor, 48. "When I saw it I said to Chris, 'This could be what we’ve been dreaming about.'"

They quickly brewed plans to revamp the location by adding an art gallery and a menu infused with African and Middle Eastern dishes. Their venture will be renamed the Timbuktu Java Bar and Gallery.

Only two weeks after they heard that the coffee shop was up for adoption, the husband and wife were working behind the bar.

"There were several times when I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I had cold feet," Taylor said. "But that would fade and I would feel confident. This is a blank slate."

 

2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

2010-10-15 15:21:10