Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/41387
COOL BEANZ COFFEEHOUSE Rock Island, Ill. W hen customers walk into Cool Beanz Coffeehouse in Rock Island, Ill., many likely assume the crowded, hopping joint on the edge of Augustana College's campus is operated by a veteran restaurateur. Aſter all, its clean, well-lit interior, comfortable couches, dark wood tables and chairs, and smoothly operating service are what you find in the best coffeehouses in the country. But that assumption is wrong: Cool Beanz is the two-year-old baby of Annette Zapolis, a 25-year-old Augustana grad. Zapolis began planning Cool Beanz when she was a junior at Augustana. She was studying geology, which she enjoyed, but she knew she wanted a career in customer service and product development. "Aſter exploring what Rock Island needed, my father and I decided that an upscale coffeehouse and sandwich shop would be a perfect fit for the community," Zapolis says. "I wanted to offer the upscale atmosphere and quality products that I had come to expect growing up in the Chicago suburbs." Zapolis spent the next year reading books on running restaurants, attending Coffeefest in Chicago, and meeting roasters, equipment dealers, architects and contractors. Zapolis' father, Robert, played a key role in Annette's plans. Together they found a 90-year-old, two-story brick building near campus, and Robert helped pull together the funds needed to renovate the structure into a coffee shop. Three months later, in August 2009, Cool Beanz served its first cup of joe. "I don't remember the next three months as individual days or even weeks—it rolled on like one long and exhausting marathon," Annette says. "At 23 years old I was learning how to be a barista, cashier, manager, and owner all at the same time. I was receiving hugely positive response from the community, and as we grew, fixed, added, and took away, we improved." The atmosphere of Cool Beanz lends 50 | September 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com BY ED AVIS itself to lingering. Counter seating gives a front-row view of the barista action, and three- and four-top tables offer convenient, comfortable dining. "A cushy leather sofa faces a three-sided fireplace for an intimate date with the latest novel or a close conversation with old friends," Zapolis says. "The yellow walls and chocolate- colored ceiling make the building seem to glow from the inside at night." A key part of the shop's ambiance is live music. Four or five days a week local and Midwest talent performs, helping the shop build a reputation as a music venue. Cool Beanz serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and offers patrons beer, wine and cocktails. Popular menu items include the Alarm Clock (a breakfast item consisting of bacon, eggs, cheddar, and Tabasco sauce) and Crab Louis Salad. The coffee comes from Midwest roasters: Safari Cup in Chicago, True Coffee in Madison, Wisc., and Stone Creek in Milwaukee. Popular specialty drinks include The Dean's List (spiced chai latte with two shots of espresso), The Quad (a latte with four syrups: butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate and maraschino cherry), and The Sorority Girl (espresso with steamed milk and chocolate mint flavoring). "Cool Beanz has become a destination," Zapolis says. "People oſten stay for hours, sometimes having both breakfast and lunch in the same seat because they have been talking so long. Even when the road in front of our building was closed for a week, our business didn't falter." EQUIPMENT: Nuova Simonelli Aurelia espresso machine Cool Beanz Coffee House 1325 30th St., Rock Island, Ill. www.coolbeanzcoffeehouse.com Mon - Fri: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sat - Sun: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.