Where Do You Feel Most Comfortable?

Where do you feel the most comfortable? For some, it’s in the stands at a baseball game. For others, it’s walking around in the quiet of an art museum. For most, it’s on their couch with Netflix being binged in the background.

For me, it’s a coffee shop. When I went to college, I went out of state and lived in the city of Chicago for a few years. While I was in school, one of my favorite things to do was to search for new and inviting coffee shops. I didn’t want a chain shop with sparse seating and harsh lighting. I wanted something comfortable. A place where you felt you could sit and stay for as long as you like.

One of my favorite places was a coffee shop that had originally been a duplex home. The owner traveled Europe and came back to create Bourgeois Pig Cafe. I loved the antique couches and unique food offerings, but mostly I loved how kind the staff was. How I knew I could go and stay for hours without being pestered or interrupted.

I found dozens of other coffee shops around the city, but I would always go back to the ones that placed an emphasis on community. And of course the ones with free wifi. I was a student after all.

Now picture this, after college I move back to my home in Downriver Michigan. I say goodbye to the independent coffee shops on every corner in Chicago, and I come back to chain coffee shop after chain coffee shop. Where are the places that host open mic nights? Where are the places that source local ingredients and restaurants? Where are my comfy couches??

Nowhere to be seen. It feels like in Downriver we have no place where we can gather together as a community and exhale. Life is busy and hectic and without a place to be present and still, how can we keep going when our tank is empty?

I don’t think we can.

That’s where Embers Coffee Co. comes into focus. We want to create a place not only with good coffee (and it will be good, check out Rootless Coffee Co. to get a sneak peek), but a place of togetherness and calmness. We hope to be a haven for those weary from the rise and grind of life. But even if you’re stopping in quickly for a latte on your way to work, we can at least greet you with a smile and encourage you before your day begins.

Downriver is not just a group of cities aimlessly wandering with no real destination. We can be a group of people who meet together and provide for each other. Embers Coffee Co. might have coffee in the name, but we also will be a meeting space, a recording studio, an escape for parents, a creative retreat, a student’s paradise. Whatever the need is.

Maybe it sounds too good to be true, but I have a personal stake in this. I miss my comfortable space. Sipping coffee while I listen to the chatter around me and watch the people walk by outside. Coffee shops can bring a community together. If you don’t believe me, turn on the TV show Friends. I’m excited to see what Embers Coffee Co. will grow into, and I really hope it becomes your true home away from home.