Despite pandemic setback, popular, cozy Your Place Coffee reopening under new ownership - Greeley Tribune

For the past six years, Miguel Mejia and his employer — Denver-based IMACK Coffee — have provided Your Place Coffee and its owners, Connie and Gary Schoneman, many of the wholesale coffee and tea ingredients they need to do business.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted those deliveries in mid-March, threatening to do so permanently, while shuttering Your Place Coffee.

But in spite of the pandemic and its profound impact on small businesses everywhere, Mejia’s relationship with Your Place Coffee doesn’t have to come to an end. In fact, his relationship with the cozy, popular coffee shop has become only stronger, more direct and more invested.

Miguel, 33, and his wife, Danielle, 28, will reopen the coffee shop at 2308 17th Street in Greeley at 7 a.m. Saturday after deciding in the beginning of June to purchase the business. The Mejias’ acquisition came just a few weeks after its previous owners — the Schonemans —made the difficult decision to step away from the business.

In fact, the Schonemans indicated the shop was closing in a Facebook post on May 16 before the Mejias brought news of the imminent reopening on the very same Facebook page June 2.

“To all of our customers who have become our friends and family. This decision has been one that we have struggled back and forth with for weeks and it all comes down to this,” the initial Facebook post reads. “We have had an amazing past 11 years full of love, growth, graduations, proposals, first dates that have led to marriages, we raised so many kids, we have hugged so many broken hearts, celebrated so many birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, celebrated beautiful lives and it has been such a blessing to be part of this journey and make all of these new friends and create a bigger family.”

Now, thanks to the investment made by the Mejias, Your Place Coffee will continue to be a favorite community gathering place — and a fine place to grab a cup of Joe and a quick snack.

Sure, the Mejias recognize there will be certain inherent challenges involved with taking over a small business in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

GREELEY, CO – JULY 9:Staff get ready to reopen at Your Place Coffee in Greeley July 10, 2020. The coffee shop will reopen for business at 7:00am on Saturday, July 11, 2020. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)

But, having witnessed for years the warm, welcoming atmosphere Your Place Coffee creates and the many loyal customers that environment attracts, Miguel said he and his wife are up for the challenge.

“I’ve been in the industry, as a coffee roaster, for about 11 years now, and I’ve wanted to (operate my own coffee shop) for about five or six years,” Miguel said. “I think this is the right time. … It’s a changing environment (with the pandemic). It’s a changing business. Everything is going to change, I’m sure. We’re going to adapt to change.”

Miguel said he and Danielle plan to tweak the menu just a bit but will keep their customers’ favorite items. The shop is also adding locally produced ice cream from M&M Creamery, formerly known as Longview Creamery.

When the Schonemans first posted their decision to close the shop in May, their Facebook post was met with more than 100 reactions and dozens of comments by customers reflecting on fond memories of the shop but also lamenting the shop’s apparent permanent closure.

Miguel was among those who were upset at the idea of the shop being no more. Fortunately for him, Danielle, and the shop’s many patrons, the shop and its comfortable atmosphere will continue to remain intact.

“It was sad to see (the shop) just close like that,” Miguel said. “Through the six years that I’ve known Connie, I’ve built a relationship with her and some of her customers that I saw every week. You get the feeling that it isn’t just a place where you can get your coffee. It is like a home for a lot of people.”

Bobby Fernandez covers Growth and Development for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.

Your Place Coffee

» Your Place Coffee, 2308 17th Street, in Greeley, has been in business for more than a decade.

» It nearly had to close permanently in May because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, new owners — Miguel and Danielle Mejia — purchased the shop from Connie and Gary Schoneman in June, and the shop will reopen Saturday.

» The shop will implements hours of 7 a.m.-6 p.m., seven days a week.

» For more information about the shop, go to yourplacecoffee.com or connect with the shop on Facebook.

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Despite pandemic setback, popular, cozy Your Place Coffee reopening under new ownership - Greeley Tribune
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