We're Expanding!
At this point, it’s likely that you’ve heard some rumors or read some articles about our expansion, but in case you haven’t: we’re expanding! We are excited and humbled about the opportunities we have and can’t wait to see them unfold in the coming months. Watch the video below and read on to discover more about where, when and how we’re expanding. In the coming days and weeks we will also give you more background, behind the scenes and opening information, so make sure to subscribe to our newsletter or check back often.
How did this all start?
Although we weren’t actively looking for opportunities to expand, we were alerted to an opportunity in Winnetka and after a lengthy process of competitive proposals, we were selected as the tenants for a redevelopment of an old Texaco service station. The building has been vacant for years and most recently used as an overflow lot for the old Land Rover dealership. The design and build-out of this building has meant starting almost from scratch, bringing the whole thing down to the studs and rebuilding from there re-using as much original material as we can to nod to its former glory and bring it far beyond even that. This extensive process has been a partnership with the Village of Winnetka and we are targeting a fall open.
The Winnetka project was exiting enough all by itself, but after awhile it became clear that to make the Winnetka cafe a reality, we would need some heftier operations in our roastery. Our space—which we had already outgrown the year prior—was still feeling tight, and with another cafe in the works, it meant more coffee storage, more supply storage, more production of coffee, cold brew and house-made syrups. Essentially, more of everything. More didn’t seem like it was going to work with what we had. As it so happened, the unit next to ours became vacant right as we were wrestling with these thoughts of expansion. I remember the meeting in which I brought up the idea of taking over the last unit in our building, more than doubling our total square footage, to Stefan, Keith and Ryan. Keith’s response, as I remember it, was “Yeah I thought of that, too, but it seems impossible.” By the end of the meeting we had decided to give it a try. We also had decided, though, that if we were going to acquire all of that space, we would also need to try to make at least some of it into a cafe to realize our long-standing dream of a combined cafe and roastery location.
Giving it a try turned out to be quite the endeavor. We soon discovered that the building wasn’t zoned for retail and we would have to file for a text amendment and special use permit to be able to have a cafe in the area which is zoned for general industrial. That process, frankly, was pain-staking and long, but at the end of it we were approved and given the green light to begin all the rest of the work like building permits and plan approvals. After over a year, we are now in the finally building out our expansion which includes a tasting room / cafe, a kitchen to expand our cold brew and syrup prep, and a training lab.
Although we never meant to open two cafes simultaneously, the long processes of both projects has left them somewhat neck-in-neck, as we’re targeting a summer open for Libertyville. What seemed impossible to do a couple years ago has since become two opportunities impossible to pass up. Our let’s just give it a try attitude probably looks crazy from the outside—and maybe it is!—but the support of our community has proved time and time again that there are people looking for what we offer, and that’s enough to keep us going and growing.
What you can you expect next?
In the coming weeks, we hope to finish our build-out of our Libertyville headquarters and open our doors for you all to enjoy a beverage in our new space adjoined to our roastery. With this growth we also hope to one day offer more educational opportunities and events as well. If you’d like to stay up-to-date on our progress, return here to the blog regularly, or subscribe to our newsletter below to stay in the loop.