Drivers get fueled up at compact coffee spots in Newport News, Va., area
By Novelda Sommers
Source: Daily Press
Date: August 17, 2004
Aug. 17--You might think business would slacken a bit at a drive-through coffee
shop during the height of summer's heat.
Ninety-plus degree days do not typically whet one's thirst for a hot cuppa
joe.
But Kevin Malecki, a former airline pilot who got into the coffee business
after he was furloughed last year, said his business hasn't slowed. All of the
drinks served at his two Mountain Mudd coffee stands can be served iced, so
even hard-core coffee addicts can order something cold.
Malecki and his wife, Denise, have opened two kiosks from Mountain
Manufacturing Co., based in Billings, Mont., in the area. A third location, in
Williamsburg, is planned for this fall. The Maleckis have nine employees and
are looking to add more.
Mountain Mudd manufactures the 8x8 huts and sells them for $68,500 to
entrepreneurs who pay a monthly licensing fee of several hundred dollars to use
the Mountain Mudd name. Shop owners purchase proprietary coffee products, such
as coffee and espresso beans from a roaster who has an exclusive contract with
the company.
Recently, Malecki had to tell customers prices on nine specialty drinks would
soon go up 25 cents because of rising milk and fuel costs, and rising prices
the Maleckis pay for drink ingredients.
Customers drive up to a window in the kiosk and order from a menu of about 20
drinks, or the barista can accept special requests. The menu offers the old
standby fancy coffee drinks, the latte, the mocha, the Americano. Also on the
menu are granitas, which are frozen drinks made with fruit; Italian sodas with
gourmet flavorings; and chai.
"Special orders don't upset us," Malecki said. "A lady the other day asked
that her milk be frothed to exactly 145 degrees. It's kind of how we have been
building our customer base. Hopefully they realize we will bend over
backwards."
To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.dailypress.com.
By Novelda Sommers
Source: Daily Press
Date: August 17, 2004
Aug. 17--You might think business would slacken a bit at a drive-through coffee
shop during the height of summer's heat.
Ninety-plus degree days do not typically whet one's thirst for a hot cuppa
joe.
But Kevin Malecki, a former airline pilot who got into the coffee business
after he was furloughed last year, said his business hasn't slowed. All of the
drinks served at his two Mountain Mudd coffee stands can be served iced, so
even hard-core coffee addicts can order something cold.
Malecki and his wife, Denise, have opened two kiosks from Mountain
Manufacturing Co., based in Billings, Mont., in the area. A third location, in
Williamsburg, is planned for this fall. The Maleckis have nine employees and
are looking to add more.
Mountain Mudd manufactures the 8x8 huts and sells them for $68,500 to
entrepreneurs who pay a monthly licensing fee of several hundred dollars to use
the Mountain Mudd name. Shop owners purchase proprietary coffee products, such
as coffee and espresso beans from a roaster who has an exclusive contract with
the company.
Recently, Malecki had to tell customers prices on nine specialty drinks would
soon go up 25 cents because of rising milk and fuel costs, and rising prices
the Maleckis pay for drink ingredients.
Customers drive up to a window in the kiosk and order from a menu of about 20
drinks, or the barista can accept special requests. The menu offers the old
standby fancy coffee drinks, the latte, the mocha, the Americano. Also on the
menu are granitas, which are frozen drinks made with fruit; Italian sodas with
gourmet flavorings; and chai.
"Special orders don't upset us," Malecki said. "A lady the other day asked
that her milk be frothed to exactly 145 degrees. It's kind of how we have been
building our customer base. Hopefully they realize we will bend over
backwards."
To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.dailypress.com.
