As you may know, this past weekend we celebrated the Grand Opening of our Libertyville Cafe. Since opening on September 1st, we have been blown away by the support of our community, and we were so grateful to officially celebrate that by cutting the ribbon!

As November comes to an end and the holiday season approaches, there is a special day we are particularly excited about: Small Business Saturday. This is a day dedicated to supporting and celebrating small businesses across the country, and we are thrilled to be a part of it! We know you will be tired from all of the Black Friday shopping you will be doing, so stop into Tala and shop small on November 25, 2023!

Currently Tayah works full time as a Shift Supervisor and our Event Coordinator. She is also one of the youngest on the Tala Team, although her maturity would make that hard to guess. Even when she isn’t on shift, Tayah can often be found hanging out at the cafe. If you’re a Highwood regular, you may already know a few things about Tayah. Let’s see if you learn anything new!

I started at Tala in the midst of the pandemic, where many of us have been able to pursue new hobbies, interests, and curiosities. My goal throughout the more at-home time during quarantine was to spend more time with my family. I haven’t lived at home for many years, and this was a perfect opportunity to spend time with my loved ones.

I’ve spent the last eight-ish months about 3,000 miles away from Highwood due to the COVID situation. If the whole virus thing hadn’t happened, I’d probably be in the café right now—either on shift or doing some academic work or playing a card game...

When I think back at the second year of our cafe, so many memories come to mind. From throwing parties to meeting new people to sharing conversations. The thing that stands out immediately for me above the rest is actually day one. We kicked off year two with an amazing birthday bash.

Coffee—and in particular a coffee shop—brings together people quite unlike most other things. We see people meet in the cafe and later become friends. They bond over their dogs or their cars or their drinks. Our cafe is a place of connection and reconnection; old friends get together to catch up, spouses sip their lattes on a nice morning away from the house.

Happy Small Business Saturday! I might be biased, but I really appreciate this day every year. It solidifies something we have always believed at Tala, and yet often forget: there is something we can offer as a small business that a giant company cannot. We absolutely love that we get to know our customer’s names, that we can offer a place of genuine connection and also a high-quality product that isn’t watered down by big business agendas. So thanks for celebrating small business with us—we’re in great company.