Coffee Shop In Littleton Impacted By Shutdown Adjusts Business Plan
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - With the possibility of another federal government shutdown still a concern, some small businesses in Colorado are trying to navigate some tough realities. The owners of a coffee shop in Littleton called Romancing the Bean, have been serving up cups of joe for 19 years. Their shop is situated right next to the light rail station.
"We have had people coming in since the beginning," said Jeannie Pershin, who owns the coffee shop with her brother. "We've had ladies get married, have babies and now they're in college."
With a small business, come some challenges. The recent government shutdown was one of them. Pershin said many of their regular customers are federal workers who stop in before heading to work on the light rail.
"We're down about 30 customers a day that use to come in and commute downtown, so that really hurts," she explained. "It's a big bite."
The owners even had to cut their hours back. Pershin said that added to the already constant battle of competing with big name retailers.
In an effort to be more convenient and grab more customers, about a year about Romancing the Bean teamed up with GrubHub and UberEats for coffee delivery. It's a service they say some people don't realize they have.
"They can call us from home," explained Terry McElhaney, Pershin's brother. "It makes it so quick and easy for us to focus more on the coffee making."
It's a way this local coffee shop can reach more people, in a time when another possible government shutdown is looming.
"People are also cutting back, they aren't sure what is going to happen," McElhaney explained.
