Need a place to hang out late at night? A place to meet up with friends that serves
coffee and ice cream? Grove Street
Coffee and Ice Cream is the newest café in town, also serving delicious baked
goods. They are located in the Valley
Plaza, near the split of the one-way pairs off of Highway 160 across from ASU’s
theater. Owners Maxwell and Erica, along
with their friend Nick, have put their heart and soul into a place named after
Detroit’s Old Blues Clubs’ District. “I
have fond memories of frequenting the clubs listening to the bands and always
wanted to name my business Grove Street.
I’m so excited,” said Max, “I am selling ice cream in Alamosa when it’s
only two degrees outside!”
When asked what his number one
request has been, he said, “Open Mic,” especially from the supportive theater
and music students on campus. Max’s mom
is the Administrator at Juniper Village and every time he came to visit over
the past several years, he thought, “There is a lot of opportunity here for new
business ideas.” He and Erica not only
signed up as Small Business Development Center (589-3682) clients, but enrolled
and graduated from the Leading Edge program.
They developed their business plan and marketing ideas while working
with local contractor, Ken Wagner, while remodeling the location. “Ken has been the best construction guy I’ve
ever worked with. I also need to thank
Electrician Gary Malmberg and Plumber Paul Steffens, and all three are my best
customers.”
They have plans to put up local art
to decorate the walls and are developing relationships with their repeat
customers. “Most of my advertising has
been my sign and on Facebook. We hit our
break-even numbers the first week we were open.”
They
are considering extending their hours of operation, but for now, it is M-Th:
7a.m.-11 p.m, Friday: 7 am – 1 a.m, Sat: 10 am – 1 am, Sun: 10 am-10 pm. As someone said at the Chamber Business
Networking event, “With a name like Maxwell, you should be running a coffee
business.” Max or Erica can be reached
at (719) 209-3198 or at www.facebook.com/GroveStreetCoffee.
