The new owners of Brew House Coffee want to strike the "hidden" from what they believe is Jefferson City's "hidden gem."
Carlos Graham, Brian Campbell and Ken Souers took ownership of the coffee shop at 1507 E. McCarty St. in The Village Square on June 1, purchasing the business from founder Deb Brown.
Their plan is to keep the coffee shop the way it is, but extend its reach, Graham said.
Graham and Brown began discussing the sale casually about a year ago.
"I told her my passion and goal in life was to own my own business," said Graham, whose full-time job is director of campus and community relations at Lincoln University. At the time, he said, his offer to buy Brew House Coffee was a joke.
However, as Brown - who also owns and operates Prison Brews restaurant - decided she shouldn't pass up the opportunity to sell Brew House to someone who would maintain it as a coffee shop; "one thing led to another," Graham said.
The decision to bring in friends Campbell and Souers occurred, fittingly, over coffee.
"We were at the coffee shop one Saturday and laughing and talking," Graham said. "It went from 'me' to 'let's.'"
The new owners don't want to change a thing about the atmosphere of Brew House and The Village Square, but they have a few ideas to build on it.
"I look at it as a hidden jewel in Jefferson City. A lot of people really don't know about it," Graham said. "We want to be more than this hidden gem; we want to be a gem."
That starts with the basics.
"The two things I'm very passionate about are customer service and cleanliness," Graham said.
Maintaining the current staff and focusing on those areas, they hope to hone the type of customer experience that grows a loyal fan base by word of mouth.
"You had a great experience - you're going to come back and bring others with you," Graham said. "(It's) just putting out a wonderful product that people can be happy about."
Customers can also expect a new menu with more lunch options within the next three weeks or so.
Future endeavors might include the opportunity to enjoy Missouri-made wines with lunch - a way to satisfy former patrons of Vines, the wine and tapas bar that operated inside Brew House after hours for just under a year.
Also, while the new owners haven't decided on specifics, extended operating hours could be in Brew House's future as well. The coffee shop is currently open 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays.
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