Specialty Coffee Retailer

JACK'S BLEND Who are you? B efore I opened JP's, I had a vision in my head what it would look like. I saw details like the layout, how the counter would be built and how I would serve customers. I also felt what it would be like, the emotions I would feel when serving customers, making them happy with great coffee, brewed or whole bean, selling a home espresso machine and maybe a nice baked good. It was a vision, not yet a reality. Fast-forward: a lot of planning, hard work, getting the store open and serving customers for a few months. Most of my customers are coffee drinkers or have been looking for a place to get great whole bean coffee, but over the course of the next year or two we become more that. We become a place to meet. I say it that way because no matter how you create your business you will never fully know how customers will respond to it, what it will mean to them and what they will make it. You see, businesses require two parties—the server and the served. Both impact the future of the entity. JP's was created in the way I saw it in my head, but what I didn't—and couldn't—see was the place we would become. In my head I saw the transactions more than I saw the reality of the space from a customer's viewpoint. Remember, JP's opened in 1993 when Starbucks had about 250 stores and the coffee house was for the most part was non-existent. Moms and high school kids and bankers and college students and pastors and attorneys didn't have a coffee shop to meet at, study at, counsel at and make their home. So JP's became more than a place to get great coffee; it became a place to meet, to study, to hang out, to get away, to grade tests and so much more. Fast-forward again to the early-to-mid 2000s—barista competitions, brew-by-the-cup, single origin espressos and $12 cups of coffee. Quite a change from when I opened with my seventy-five cent cup of Jack's Blend and $2.25 mocha. Things were changing, and my staff and managers pressured me to change—to embrace new and improved ways to brew and serve coffee, train staff and change the core of our store. Nothing wrong with that, I just had to figure out who we were and which changes were good and which were not. I am probably not that unlike you. I want to serve the best I can. But we both need to keep things such as budget, profitability and 'my permanence and employees transience' in mind. To my staff this is a job. To me it is that and more. Changes that look good and right in the light of the latest barista competition may not be the best for my business… 10 by Jack Groot maybe not now, maybe not ever. Not to say we haven't improved our coffees and espresso beverages, significantly beefed up our training program, revamped our whole bean and tea program and raised our prices (just did again). But I want to tell you, to give you permission if that is the right way to say it, to be who you are. Fast-forward to today and you'll find JP's has one of the most comprehensive training programs I think a single store of our size could have. Our espresso is top notch and our brewed coffees are excellent. The beans we sell are fresh and fabulous from roasters recognized for excellence. But, there are also things we don't do…and there are reasons. What I have attempted to do (an ongoing and experimental process) is to understand who we are and to be "the best JP's we can be." JP's is not Intelligentsia or Counter Culture or Caffé D'Bolla, not that we do not admire them, what they do and who they are, but we are not them. We are JP's and our goal is to be the best JP's we can be! So, why do I tell you this? Because I think many of you are not unlike me. You want the best coffee in your shop, but are not sure that brew-by-the-cup and $28 a pound coffees will be accepted by your customers. You want to have the best espresso machine available, but are not sure that investing $18,000 in a machine will have a ROI you can justify. You want to have the latest invention or revamped store or only serve coffee (no food) at your place. But, that may not be you. And that…is OK. Just be the best you can be! Jack Groot owns JP's Coffee and the Midwest Barista School in Holland, MI. He spends the majority of his time as a consultant to the coffee industry in the US and worldwide. His work helps individuals create, open, improve and operate successful operations in the retail coffee industry. Jack can be reached at jack@jpscoffee.com.

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