Author: Spud's Coffee

            One of the main questions that we get asked these days is “Are you guys open yet?” The simple answer is “No, not our coffeeshop, not yet.” We have been diligently building and pushing to get our inspections passed by the city. However, that is even harder to do than actually building in the middle of a pandemic. If you’ve been following our social media, you’ll see the many steps it has taken to get this project off the ground. We have not taken any of these steps for granted; each is as important as the last, and remind us each day how special this project really is. The amount of thought and work that goes into every detail of designing, building and creating is amazing! There are so many moving parts… 

Just like a body, with all its parts – all connected to one head, is how we view our coffeeshop. We take for granted how much our bodies do in a day. Our brains unconsciously control our bodies, thoughts and all our functions. We are only aware of a small amount of it. We would be so overwhelmed if we were to try to control all the things that our brains do. We don’t tell it how to function – we let it do its thing and take care of it to the best of our ability. Yet, for some reason, we think we will not be overwhelmed trying to control every aspect of our lives and the running of our businesses. The sooner we realize that we cannot control the world and that some functions will happen unconsciously, the more at peace we’ll be. 

            Some things I cannot control on my own, but I take responsibility to control what I can. The rest is up to the Higher Power. Letting go and letting the Universe do its thing is all I can do sometimes. God knows better than I do, and quite frankly, does a much better job at keeping it together than I do. Things will happen when they are meant to happen. While so many of you have be anticipating Spud’s Coffee to open, don’t be discouraged. Rest assured that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and… Oh, is it bright! Just like you, we can’t wait to see what lies ahead! 

            While we are still not open, we remind ourselves that good things take time. Our build out has given us new meaning to the term “slow coffee”. It’s a process. One that is totally worth every step and every detail. Trusting the process and practicing patience in a world where speed is glorified is not easy, but we are doing this not because it’s easy, but because it’s worth it. We will be announcing the opening date very soon, until then, check out our progress shots in our story highlights on Instagram @spudscoffee. 

Can’t wait to get a taste of our goodies? Check out our online store and order a bakery box. We offer a few items from our pastry menu for home delivery.

Megan Wilson – 04/06/2021

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A lot of you are probably wondering, “Why Spud’s? Why would you choose that name? What does it mean? What do potatoes have to do with coffee?” Very good questions, but let’s just start off by setting the record straight, Spud’s has nothing to do with potatoes (unless you count our fried breakfast potatoes). Spud was my granddad’s nickname. He was always a big encourager for me to open my own restaurant, so it made so much sense to me to name my first business in his honor. 

            Spud was a strong man, father, grandfather, farmer and major community figure. As a little girl, I would always describe him as the smartest man I know. Even in his old age, he was as sharp as a tack – he wouldn’t miss a beat. When he was in his 90’s, he would tell us stories, and one thing that would stand out to me was how many details he could remember about things that happened either last week or years ago – the date, time of day, even the name of everyone who was there, first and last name! The man was brilliant! He couldn’t forget a thing!

            As a family, we would always get together and tell stories of our fondest moments – reliving past laughs and moments, while making new ones. In very much the same way, we would feel safe and enamored when we were together – I want the guests we serve to have the same feelings. Just like you feel at ease and well taken care of when you go to your grandparents’ house, that is how you will feel at Spud’s Coffee. My granddad was truly one of the dearest family members to me, and I can’t wait ’til we can share the feeling of family with all of you.  

Megan Wilson – 09/29/2019

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While it might seem minimalistic and simple, our logo actually has a lot of thoughtful and special details tying it together. Our teal gradient coffee stain is significant of… coffee… duh!! Haha! But, it also has more meaning to it as well. The color and specific crescent shape was intentionally designed to resemble a breaking wave. The wave signifies power and resilience which describes the strong and determined team behind the scenes of the shop. The wave is a driving force that gets things moving. It appeals to more than just the people who knew Spud himself or his family. It inspires anyone who needs a little push in the right direction – little nudge to start the day. If you think about it, that’s what coffee does. The wave symbolizes who Spud was to me – the strongest man I know and the man who drove me to follow my dreams. 

Waves signify the new movement of culture and society, such as third wave coffee. It’s a new perspective that is rushing in to take over, while washing away the old. When the revelation of the wave came to me, all these thoughts just started connecting, making sense, lining up all the details of the logo design. In my life, profound things and symbols always tend to come full circle and present themselves again and again to reassure me that I’m on the right track. The wave is definitely one of those symbols. My mom was a major display of entrepreneurship in my life from a young age. Her first business back in Jamaica was also called Wave Pictures Ltd. While the design for her business was more of a rippling wave, it was A WAVE none-the-less. The wave is once again coming full circle – this time it’s breaking! 

Our name ties into the wave in bold font to show our own boldness as creative and inspired individuals. When designing the logo, there was a lot of open space around the name – a need for a framing detail. I pulled a sample image from a Christmas card I had received from Grandpa. The squiggled line below our name is actually Spud’s signature! It was the last Christmas card I got from him before he passed away, and he signed it himself. What could be more special?

Megan Wilson – 11/13/2019

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Not to jump on the bandwagon about more news on COVID-19, but I want to talk about how this pandemic is going to and has already affected coffee and our industry. This isn’t a post to tell you to “beware or else” or to complain about the sales we are going to lose or have lost. We are just as tired of the global and national bad news as you are. This is more a positive commentary of how life will be on the other side of this pandemic, because, like ourselves, coffee is resilient and will survive this global disaster as it has survived other obstacles in the past.

To be resilient, you have to be able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Time and time again, humans have collectively shown resilience. Although the world has been through so many devastating eras, it has never stopped our planet from spinning. We always recover. We always evolve. We always find a way to create a new normal and way of life after a disaster. Coffee’s mere existence today shows the same history of resilience. Coffee has survived travel from Africa to the Middle East and Europe and finally to the new world in the 1400’s. It has survived ravaging pests and diseases across the globe, and with help from innovative farming and crop management practices, coffee will be here in the future. It has even survived commodity markets with mass production of low-quality coffees. Obviously, people’s love for high quality coffee, sustainable farming and the bigger vision of coffee’s potential had a lot to do with it; but none-the-less, coffee is still here and better than ever. 

Coffee is nothing short of resilient. The plant itself can withstand rough growing conditions. Actually, coffees thrive best in harsh landscapes with steep slopes and cool yet humid tropical temperatures. Even the flavor of coffee can hold its own in a cup. Mix it with cream and sugar, and it will still shine through. I could go on and on with this metaphor for coffees resilience, but I won’t because it will just get too deep. Plus, I’m already rambling.  Basically, I’m trying to say we both – coffee and people – are going to get through this tough time because we’ve done it before. History has a way of repeating itself. This isn’t going to be the last major devastation our industry will face, but that is good news. The world isn’t going to just stop spinning. We can take that and use it to encourage us to move forward and make changes that will propel us forward into the next circle of life. 

I hope these words encouraged you to keep moving forward. We become stronger by pressing on and learning from the past, so we make a better future. Let us use wisdom as well as innovation to create the best new norms of our new world. Change is good, and we will recover from the setbacks. Just continue to be resilient! 

Megan Wilson – 05/23/2020

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