How did Cabin Fever end up with a location at Northwest State Community College?
Part 2
We had been looking for a third location that would work and fit what we hold dear as a local community coffee shop. We started building a mobile coffee trailer in 2019 and rolled it out to the community just before COVID hit in 2020. With the many things that COVID changed, the success of the coffee trailer took a hit too. We made the tough choice to wait it out a year and see what would happen in our industry. The longer we waited, the more we knew we would love to do another permanent location over something mobile.
Cabin Fever Mobile
We sold the coffee trailer and turned it into so much more at Northwest State Community College.
We looked at a space in Napoleon and really liked it. It’s funny, having a drive-thru (or capability to have one) was HIGH on our list after watching our business morph a bit through COVID and now we are at Northwest State Community College without one. Without us having a drive-thru on the Southside, we aren’t sure how we could have survived 2020 as a small business. Our communities are becoming more and more drive-thru driven. Everyone wants something at the moment they think of it: an answer to a text, a photo, lunch, a coffee, you name it.
Anyway, back to the story of HOW we came to be open at Northwest State… It was no secret to our baristas that Adam and I had looked at locations in Paulding and Napoleon a few times through 2020 and 2021. While on vacation at the beginning of this year, Chelsi (one of our baristas many of your know and love) contacted us and said there was a building for sale in the area we were looking at and there was an open house. The very day after we got back to the states, we checked out the space and on the way home talked it over.
While driving down Route 6 outside of Archbold to head back toward Defiance, I flippantly said to Adam, “what if we checked out NSCC? I wonder what they have going on since we’ve been there?” We chatted about how we would order burgers, nachos and cheese, and drinks from the snack bar by the bookstore and laughed about old times and how far we’ve ventured since then. We talked about emailing someone from the college just to say hello and see what interest there would be from their end. Just like normal spousal conversations, it then morphed into something else. Probably about the kids or getting our schedules straight for the week coming up.
That next day, Adam and I both sent emails to the college without the other knowing and that began our journey this spring. Together, Cabin Fever Coffee and Northwest State Community College worked out loads of details. What would it look like to be a tenant in a state school, a college? What would it look like for them to trust us with their space, our coffee knowledge, and their students? How would we get all of the equipment in? Who is allowed to have access to the building and how? So. Many. Things.
Contracts were signed by the beginning of fall and by the end of September, water lines were being formed, equipment ordered and the Health Inspector was on alert to come and give us the green flag to finally serve coffee. Where would we find staff? We started hiring!
We can’t thank NSCC and it’s staff enough. Every single person has been beyond welcoming and helpful. The maintenance staff has become our BFF’s forever (even though they might not like it much ;)) and have done impeccable work for our business to come in, set up, and run as smoothly as possible. We’ve been asked by their staff countless times, “what do you need?” It has been smooth and bumpy all at the same time. Things never go totally to plan. Our espresso machine quit working completely two days before opening and we lost three blenders in the first two days of being open. Not everything works 100% of the time without any hiccups or bumps in the road. You learn to pivot. A lot.
We are here. We are OPEN. We are working out hours to be open and serve coffee that is good for the NSCC community, outside community and Cabin Fever. With a few tweaks here and there, we are hoping everyone will be happily drinking their favorite Caramel Cabin Fever, Lotus energy drink, tea or coffee when they are looking for something to de-stress, study hard, or celebrate that great great on a test.
A couple of quick Q + A's that we've had LOTS of...
Q: Can ANYONE come inside or just students?
A: YES! Anyone from the community can come in while the college is open. Our hours are posted on social media + Google Business.
Q: Are you open on the weekends?
A: We are closed. Campus is closed on the weekends so we are as well. They ask us to be closed when they are. It's different for us to work inside of someone else's building but it works.
Q: How do we find where you are?
A: We have more signs coming soon! We have shared a video and photos with a map as well. You can also email us any time. We'll do the next mail on how to find us so this one isn't too long! BUILDING A -- between the library and the bookstore.
Keep checking in on our emails. You'll never know if it's going to be a great coupon, an inside look, a story around the fireplace, or something you NEED to know... like our Holiday Gift Card Bonus or our Christmas hours.
We'll have more coffee together around the fireplace for soon,
Alyssa and the Cabin Fever Crew
