Would you like a place in the neighborhood to walk and get a coffee and a snack?
Like many small businesses, the Swantown Inn & Spa has suffered financially during the pandemic. In a bright spot, the City of Olympia funded owners, Nathan and Casey to undertake ScaleUP training with the Thurston EDC. During this training they learned they needed to adapt and pivot to generate revenue. In this case the Inn’s event space, the Grand Victorian Ballroom, already had an Espresso Bar that with a few tweaks could operate as an Espresso Window for the neighborhood.
The concept is simple, like everything we do at the Inn, take the regular experience and elevate it to a more luxurious experience. A simple drinks menu, with baked goods from the Inn’s kitchen. All within what we could already serve to guests according to the Thurston County Health Department.
Not being rule breakers, we still applied for an Espresso Stand Health Permit. This in turn triggered notification to Olympia’s Code Enforcement, and we were promptly told we could not serve to non-overnight guests. We tried to work with the city, engaging the Economic Development Director, who thought this was all a great idea, but he too was told no. We engaged the Mayor, ex-council members and ex-planning commission members, the general suggestion was to ask for a trial period. This too was denied.
We finally are working with the Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA). One solution would be opening the space as a community clubhouse, however this leads to a grey area in charging for drinks and goods. The ENA is also pursuing having our area designated as a village center, but initial enquiries put that process at least a year out. The final suggestion was to get the support of our immediate neighbors (who we already reached out to), neighborhood, community and media. This is why we have started a petition.
Petition For Espresso Window
This petition is a last ditched effort to get someone to actually listen and care enough about our business to make an immediate change.
It is to show that our little business has the support of our community.
The concept is simple, like everything we do at the Inn, take the regular experience and elevate it to a more luxurious experience. A simple drinks menu, with baked goods from the Inn’s kitchen. All within what we could already serve to guests according to the Thurston County Health Department.
Benefits for our business and neighborhood;
- This supports a Mom and Pop family owned business.
- This potentially employees multiple people.
- This fulfills items within the ENA Sub Area Plan, part of the larger Olympia Comprehensive Plan.
- Creating a neighborhood gathering space
- Encouraging walkable neighborhoods (giving a destination to walk to)
- We want to encourage walking, cycling and the like. This is not a drive through stand, it isn’t even a drive to.
[button link=”https://www.change.org/Swantown-Inn-Espresso-Window” type=”big” color=”green” newwindow=”yes”] SIGN THE PETITION[/button]
Leave a Reply