Loveland Coffee, Columbia, SC
7001 St Andrews Rd, Columbia, SC 29212, USA
I personally think the concept of a mobile or drive-thru coffee shop is the smartest thing in the world. First, no rent = much less overhead. Second, America loves quick, fast and easy.
In talking to coffee shop owners, the topic of rent comes up often. When I was in London, the chief complaint of coffee shop owners was the ridiculous overhead cost of rent, especially in Zone 1. Many of the shops turned into jazz clubs, wine bars or foodie digs at night out of pure necessity. I mean it makes complete sense. Even though owners are paying rent 24/7, most people are only drinking coffee abut 6/7; so what do you do with the other 10 or so hours to cover the cost of your rent and manpower? It's a interesting conundrum and folks overcome in multiple ways.
Fortunately, Beach at Loveland coffee circumvented it altogether and has the best of both worlds; a drive-thru coffee kiosk in Columbia, SC.
Catch the inside scoop on why Beach chose a kiosk below.
The pictures tell all! Loveland is a two-way drive thru kiosk in a more residential area of Columbia, SC. The kiosk opened in 2012 following a successful kickstarter and a big flow of support from the local community. The goal was simple: serve community and serve good coffee. The owner, Beach Banks Loveland, grew his business from the kiosk in 2016 when he began roasting his own single-origin, fair-trade coffee in small batches at his own roastery. It's only gotten better and better as he's partnered with other local businesses to produce things like coffee-infused beers and Bourbon barrel aged coffee beans.
The menu is tailored toward the fast-coffee community, meaning it doesn't have pour-over options. But with the nature of the shop, it makes sense. It DOES, however, serve the base populace around here, which is people on the go who want GOOD coffee before a busy day. I have to remind myself that 95% of the populace digs sweet, milky and sugary coffee. So it's natural that coffee shops - even the good ones selling quality roasts - must tailor their menu to serve the fru-fru coffee drinking community. No offense, fru-fru coffee drinkers :)
Loveland primarily roasts and sells single-origin coffee, though they do have some blends. They've also got some pretty neat speciality options on their kiosk menu. Lately, I've been trying what is unique to shops, so I went for Vanilla Dolce. Anything with vanilla bean - not just vanilla - seems appetizing to me. The drink was more sugary than my norm, so to make sure I didn't miss out on the black coffee goodness I normally go for, I ordered a bag of their freshly roasted Nicaraguan single origin to bring home with me.
Beach is a passionate and dedicated local shop owner! He raves about his beautiful wife and sweet kids and gives all the glory for his success back to God. He's worked for ten years to make his dream of opening a coffee shop a reality. Prior to to that, he was hustling by working a 'normal' job to make sure he could take care of his family and set himself up for a full self-employed transition. His journey is so full of determination that I was itching to ask a few questions; lucky for us, he obliged!
I understand that you purchased leftover coffee equipment from working at another coffee shop and acquired the kiosk from a car dealership. You were just waiting for the right moment to open the shop, right? When did you know it was and were you fearful fo the 'what if' if it didn't work out?
There was a lot of prayer involved but also we always kept working towards the goal even if it was just small steps. In the time between when the cafe I was working at closed and when I opened the drive-thru, I had to work a “real job” to provide for my family. During that time, I would also help out with another local roaster and sold whole bean coffee to my co-workers from my office. Soon after, I would deliver coffee around town on my lunch breaks. I wasn’t really fearful until the first day we opened, then there was a defiant reality check. Thankfully my wife has been super encouraging and the Lord has been more than faithful in providing for our family and business. The real failure would have been if I never had taken the chance.
I love that Kickstart was the base that helped you start your business and what a success it has been! It seems you've got a great business model with a kiosk offering easy drive thru access. What made you decide on this model, as opposed to a brick and mortar shop?
Kickstarter was a great tool for us to raise the last little bit of cash that we needed and to foster excitement within our community about our brand and the drive-thru concept. Our goal was to initially open a brick and mortar cafe but the upfront cost was just too much to get started. So when we found the drive-thru we thought it would be a great way to get started without a huge upfront cost and it would let us test the waters and grow at a manageable rate without the stress and pressure of large debt. Now that we are in our 6th year of business our sight is set on finding a brick and mortar roaster retail location to continue to better serve our community.
The option for a coffee and chocolate tasing WITH a roasting warehouse tour sounds like a dream and a great way to connect to community. How do you connect with your coffee growers and select the single origin beans that you roast?
We really love doing things like the Coffee and Chocolate Pairings/ Roasting Tours because they involve our local community and help them understand where our passion for great coffee comes from and why. As far as our Green Coffee buying practices go, we buy from several smaller importers that have developed close long term relationships with regional farmers that offer Fairly Traded Organic Coffees. We on average have 9-11 different single origin coffees on hand and look for unique flavor profiles with high cupping scores. We hope in the near future to be able to take an origin trip to meet some of the farmers we source coffee from.
That's just some of the story, friends!
Loveland has a great website and a very informational blog! I'm so eager to get back stateside and attend the coffee and chocolate pairing. Beach, you're doing great things and have a big heart for your community; cheers to you for envisioning your goals and trusting that in due time, God would make it happen. I hope you, your family and Loveland coffee continue to be showered in blessings.
