It seems that on nearly every street corner in Bowling Green students can grab a cup of coffee. Other than the several coffee chains and bakeries in town, students can also grab their morning coffee at gas stations and restaurant drive-thrus.
With all this competition and big name coffee shops and bakeries, such as Starbucks and Panera Bread, Bowling Green doesn’t seem like the best place to open up a ‘mom and pop’ style coffee and donut shop. Louis and Jill Shaffer, however, have done just that.
Court Street Coffee House, which opened last February and is open daily from 6:30 a.m. – 2 p.m., offers an intimate and friendly place for students and residents to enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea, a fresh baked pastry and the newspaper. The owners are hopeful that this small and welcoming environment can separate them from the bigger chains in town.
‘When I first initially thought about bringing one in I didn’t realize how many coffee shops there were, but we had to bring an atmosphere where people come in and they feel comfortable walking in,’ Louis said.
‘When I first came to town there wasn’t a whole lot of donut places, other than the Kroger store. I wanted to bring in something different for the community. For me the bottom line is just to give someone a quality product at a fair price. Plus I like to talk to people. I think the more you can talk to people that come in the better.’
While the town of Bowling Green may be new to Louis, the coffee and bakery business is not.
‘I’ve been in this business for probably twenty years,’ said Louis, who also runs Caf’#233; Donuts in Toledo. ‘I know the coffee business and the donut business. So it’s something that I’m not just throwing up and saying let’s sell this and sell that. I know what I’m putting out, and I think I have a good quality. That to me is important. Just to sell it wouldn’t be right.’
Located across from the court house on Court Street, the coffee and donut shop may not be the ideal location for students, but they are constantly trying to increase their student customer base. For the time being, however, they tend to focus more on the local business people.
‘I think we strive for the business people around here, like the court house and other businesses,’ Jill said. ‘We’ve advertised for the students but I don’t think our hours are real accommodating for the average students’but we do get a few students in here.’
Despite not getting many student customers, Court Street Coffeehouse is hopeful for their small business future. After being open for over seven months, the owners of the coffee shop are thankful to the Main Street BG business organization as well as their loyal customers.
‘BG Main Street has been so hopeful. It’s amazing,’ Jill said. ‘They have steered us in many wonderful directions and they help us out with a lot of different things.’
Earlene Kilpatrick, the director of Main Street BG and a Court Street Coffee customer, is also optimistic about the future of Court Street Coffee House. With their involvement in community events, their advertising and their variety of coffees and pastries, Kilpatrick believes the small independent business can find success in this highly competitive market.
‘It’s very important that we as a community support the independent business owners. They are the backbone of this nation. If you look at the figures the independents still outnumber the larger corporate businesses,’ Kilpatrick said. ‘But the bottom line is the Independents are still the backbone and we need to do what we need to do to support them.’
