Lois Middleton is a self-proclaimed adventurer. She always has been.
In January, she flew to Paris for the day and followed it up with a day trip to Amsterdam the next month with her son.
Middleton’s motto is “When life opens a door, you go through it.”
In the case of her new business, she leapt through the door.
Middleton took out a $25,000 home equity loan to buy the small coffee shop, formerly Caffe Armadia, from Kelli Crocker, the owner of Nutz-R-Us at the Vancouver Farmers Market. The deal closed in March, and the shop opened as Bohemian Espresso on April 2
The loan paid for the business, starting inventory and startup costs.
She brought in comfy used chairs, photography from local artist Nicholas Beatty, free Wi-Fi and changed the focus of the whole joint.
“I’m interested in the community I’ve created here, not the coffee,” Middleton said. “Of course, I want to serve good coffee, but I want people to be able to hang out and be comfortable.”
By providing a place to do just that, she hopes to help aid a resurgence of activity in the neighborhood. Middleton was familiar with the area as a field inspector and code enforcement officer for the city, and her son owns a business nearby. She saw a need for a casual haunt for neighbors to come together, she said.
“Vancouver needs little places to sit and eat,” Middleton said. “I’d love to see a downtown Camas here with little shops and trees, or something like Alberta Street with lots of artists.
“I want to build a community.”
So far, business has been steady. Middleton has a slew of regulars (the shop has 267 Myspace friends) and the community has rallied around the shop, she said. On the wall is a bulletin board covered with customer business cards – including one for a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator – and on the cooler, is space for regulars to post mentions of themselves in the news.
Middleton hasn’t yet had a chance to calculate her monthly revenue.
At the beginning of June, the café was robbed and the register was emptied. Thankfully, she said, nothing else was taken, but the neighborhood turned out in droves to show support and urge her not to leave.
“That was a surprise – a warm and fuzzy one,” Middleton said.
Starting July 1, Middleton will have started serving light soups, salads and sandwiches, and hopes to have the need to hire a part-time employee. Her wish is to grow out of the small, cozy space, but she hopes to stay in the neighborhood.
Bohemian features locally made Polar Freeze drinks and serves coffee roasted by 49th Parallel in Vancouver, Canada, which is distributed locally by the Paradise Café.
The shop is sponsoring a drag queen for the Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center’s effort to break the world record for the largest drag queen chorus on July 22 in Portland, and Middleton said she wants to support as many local organizations as she can.
“This is all so cool to me,” she said. “I’ve always created family, and I feel like I’ve created a family here.”
Bohemian Espresso Owner Lois Middleton 2608 E. Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver www.bohemianespresso.com
