Hospitality delivered, simply.
The other day it was shared with me that another one of our local roasting companies sold to a private equity firm for an "undisclosed sum". It marks a further public encroachment of the mainstream spotlight on our industry. Every day we see bigger brands in adjacent industries involving themselves, celebrities immersing themselves in our craft and the daily human having a more acute knowledge of what real coffee is. So much has changed in the last twenty years, it's easy to say too considering the real life length of our industry is roughly about that same age-but the back half 10 years have been especially prolific in its growth pace with the last 5 years being the most felt. I remember when I entered the industry around a decade ago-Seattle's Best was most commonly a sign of the upper class enjoyment of specialty coffee-haha how far we've come. Another example perhaps, when I started drinking specialty, the concept of resting beans was for the ultra niche, or "nerds" as they were called-the then common coffee drinker would grab a bag of blonde roast from Starbucks as close to the roast date as possible under the ruse "fresher is better". Now we are the ultra niche and resting Promethium coffees for just two weeks seems sacrilegious (3-4 weeks is king remember this) and chances are the random person across from you on the subway knows what resting coffee is.
Just let that soak in your mind for a moment: an entire civilization's awareness needle and understanding of best practice and science in a small industry being shifted marginally in just a few years both domestically and internationally. Mind-boggling really. Lastly I think the most prominent public shift in our industry is the cost of concept buildout and buy in. When we built Iris in 2018-19 we projected it to cost $120-400k for what was supposed to be a world class experience. I remember another shop in our city had just opened after spending close to seven figures on their build out. I remember it was truly shocking to me and seemed incredibly daring. Now we don't even blink when the main hallmark concepts sign destination leases in expensive cities and spend $1M-$3M on their build outs alone. New tech, designer concepts, location, location, location - the investments seem dazzling but there's a subtle pattern amongst them that's missable to all but a few. Often these world building concepts offer a fast food experience for our industry. I love fast food who doesn't-let's be so real here-but like its textiles counterpart, the fast fashion industry, it's great for the initial moment but hardly lasts beyond it. Often we don't necessarily think about the last time we ate Chick Fil A. In the context of these mega build out's/investments: once you've posted your cafe pictures and consumed your beverages-what are you? You're still just the consumer. A number. The bottom line on a yearly P&L. $2,000,000 spent to capture your attention for a mere moment. It's a successful tool and one that's being newly exploited by bigger brands and classical money as the revenue possibilities of our industry are being further noticed.
"once you've posted your cafe pictures and consumed your beverages-what are you? You're still just the consumer."
I came on here to write about my experience at Meadowlark in Gainesville. What does that have to do with equity investments and large capital gains? It doesn't. I just wanted to bore you.
Jokes aside, if you've been to Meadowlark and had the privilege to connect with their staff, you'll see what a lot of shops with lines wrapped around the block have in common: chipped paint, warped wood, fogged up windows but dozens of smiling faces with souls behind them that you can actually feel. Of the tens of thousands of shops in our economy, there are likely less than 100 that operate in this manner and to a certain pedigree. I like to think I specialize in what you cannot say, what you cannot do and what you cannot see-but only in what you can feel. Meadowlark is one of the few places on earth I saw that manifested in others. They likely did not spend $1M on their space, or sign the most grandiose lease deal by any means, but what they did do, and still do, is infuse soul and life into a physical space and its subsequent people who occupy it. The shops flanking the Burj Khalifa and lining East Village may remain much longer than an Iris or Fount or Meadowlark, but like comparing a number one combo meal and a dinner at Eleven Madison Park, the latter will be loved much longer.
I've always clung to the principle that soul + love breeds legacy in my selfish moments of insecurity and smallness when Watchhouse announces another world class location - effortlessly building it out when scaling my tiny Raleigh cafe feels so difficult and financially intense. But I've seen more marriages heal, children reconnecting with once estranged parents and lovers first see each other in the last year at iris than any PE-backed coffee concepts see in their lifetime. That's the quintessence(my favorite word currently) of hospitality.
True hospitality is granting curious souls a belonging through genuine connection and discipline of practice. At Meadowlark, you belong and you are seen through a orchestra of respectful service and loving community.
So is it more valuable to be loved or respected? A million dollar cafe may fiscally buy you public admiration, but the grit of love shown to a space and it's community of souls over time slowly builds a legacy long loved after a Brooklyn lease terms ends. Shops like Meadowlark show you even still, be both.
"I've seen more marriages heal, children reconnecting with once estranged parents and lovers first see each other in a year at iris than any PE-backed coffee concepts see in their lifetime."
When in Gainesville, it's hard to pass through without feeling the legacy JP and his partner are building, let alone not see it. Their staff are sold out on quality and hospitality and during the brief tenure of time in their space, not one body that passed through the 109 Bradford St threshold was not known directly by name - and that was a lot of bodies.
Everything is organized and lined to a degree I truly believed I was alone in - only sharing a similar precision of discipline with the skincare company Aesop - this discipline is my staff's favorite personality trait of mine ;) yet at Meadowlark my obsessive compulsive disorder felt open to thrive and wonder in a paradise of affirmation and camaraderie - all of this through the rich sense of humility and student-like mindset of the Meadowlark team from leadership onward.
If you are in Gainesville, go. Meaningful concepts like Meadowlark are the real final frontier of specialty coffee, still yet to be understood by big commercial money but appreciated in genuine belonging by folks like you and me.
