Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Collett.
Hi Casey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2003 we bought a little coffee business that occupied the corner of a building in downtown Corvallis, Oregon. Open to the public only two half-days a week, the little business sold coffee to gift stores and was operated by Dennis Collett, our roaster. After a year, Casey (Dennis’ wife) joined the business as we opened full-time to the public and added three teas to our offerings. In year 3, our daughter Miriam joined the staff, followed soon after by our son Jordan. Now, in year twenty- three our team includes the family and three wonderful staff members. And we grew from a tiny corner to taking over the whole building!
Our mission is “coffee, tea, community”, and we live it every day. Our store is like our living room. Our customers are our friends, some of whom we have served for over two decades. We love to “talk coffee and tea”, and we love to keep up on the happenings in our customers’ lives. Now, at year 23 in our journey, Dennis roasts 35 varieties of coffee in small batches, we sell 300 teas, and we stock a wide variety of coffee, tea and gift items. Our customers love the “thrill of the hunt” as they explore our store to find their favorite implements and the latest new and unique gifts.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’ve had three turning points, all of which have strengthened our business. The first was our decision to change the nature of the business we bought (part time, primarily wholesale, small footprint) to our current configuration (full time, retail and online sales, occupying a large space in a historic building). Once we realized how much joy we felt in face-to-face interactions with customers and the deep satisfaction of establishing long term friendships with them, we moved away from the gift shop business and never looked back. That decision occurred at the same time we changed our name and expanded into the current store we now occupy. The second was our responding to a request to apply for a family business award sponsored by Oregon State University. We came in third in the micro business category, and we learned a ton from the process of applying, and we improved our business processes as a result. Plus we met a wonderful cohort of other applicants, most of whom shared in the struggles and triumphs of running a small family business. Finally, we weathered the covid pandemic. For fourteen months, we operated behind closed doors. Our loyal customers stuck with us – often standing in the rain as we delivered coffee or tea into their hands at the door. Often, people asked us to ship their orders, and in the end, we expanded into the thriving online business we maintain today.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a small family coffee and tea store, we are a high-touch, high information business. Our customer base is both discerning and curious. They love to know the background stories of our coffees and teas, and many of them have formed long term friendships with our staff. We have greeted some of them every week for over two decades! We specialize in high quality products and customer service. We offer fresh coffees, expertly roasted in small batches and three hundred teas that address a wide variety of tastes and price points. When our customers walk in the door, they see our wall of teas and our 30+ fresh coffees, and often say they feel like a kid in a candy shop! We have been told many times that our coffees are superb and the variety and quality of our teas are unique. We are in a small college town, but our customers tell us that our unique and broad collection makes them feel as if they are shopping in a much bigger city.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success: Quality products, happy customers, valued staff
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oregoncoffeeandtea.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oregoncoffeeandtea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oregoncoffeeandtea/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/oregon-coffee-and-tea-corvallis
