13 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Sooke residents band together to save beloved local café

 

The Stick in the Mud coffee house is now co-op owned and will be renamed Café Vosino

 

 

A beloved Sooke coffee house closed its doors Sunday but it will re-open after about 400 community members banded together to purchase the business through a co-op.

 

Stick in the Mud Coffee House owner David Evans signed the sale papers on Sunday afternoon with Sooke Community Investment Cooperative president Wendy O’Conner in front of a cheering crowd that had come out for the coffee shop’s last day of operation.

 

Coffee shop regulars O’Conner, Jim Meunier and Bernie Klassen started a campaign to save the Stick when they learned of the plans to close in April.

 

Working with Co-Operatives First, a Saskatoon-based co-op creator, the trio formed a co-op and began raising money to purchase the business.

 

Last minute donations came flying in with more than $16,000 raised on Saturday alone, said O’Conner, adding that the co-op has now raised about 70 per cent of the funds needed.

 

Evans only decided to sell to the co-op late Saturday night, she said.

 

Shop employees working Sunday, many of whom had purchased a co-op membership, were overjoyed to learn of the decision.

 

The coffee shop will be renamed to Cafe Vosino, after V0S 1N0, Sooke’s former postal code.

 

 

https://www.timescol...al-cafe-7314837

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 July 2023 - 03:19 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Earlier story:

 

 

 

A beloved café in Sooke known for its famous “eggamajig” sandwich may be closing its doors soon unless it can drum up financial support in the form of community ownership.

 

Stick in the Mud has been a favourite with locals ever since it started roasting coffee back in 2007. But last week, 16 years, 16 days and 16 hours after it opened, owner David Evans took to Facebook to announce that it would soon be closing its doors.

 

The news prompted many in the community to reminisce about the fond memories they had at the café and offer suggestions on how to keep the business running.

 

Despite the advice, Evans later clarified in a statement that the closure was not due to financial struggles.

 

“Number one, we’re not a struggling business, we don’t need to find ways of saving money, or finding efficiencies. We’re good,” Evans said.

 

“This is just the end of the café chapter for me.  The business is well-run, profitable and a community staple and it’d be a shame to close it.”

Wendy O’Connor, a regular, can’t imagine what life in the town would be like without it.

 

 

https://www.cheknews...ership-1150117/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 July 2023 - 03:22 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

the rumrunner could do the same thing, but i guess that's another thread. it might be a tough neighbourhood with the surly mermaid next door & the two new breweries a couple blocks away. or maybe that could work in its favour, creating a craft-beer district?

Edited by amor de cosmos, 24 July 2023 - 07:41 AM.

[Mike K.]

The craft beer bubble will eventually burst. It’s a fad now, and like all fads, it has a time limit.

[Victoria Watcher]

We used to go to Fog and Sudds in Vancouver 35+ years ago because they had so many beers. I think the idea might live on.

How about a “base beer” that you order, then squeeze in any variety of flavour additives? Like those Kool
Aid concentrated little squeeze bombs, or like they tint paint at the hardware store?

[Mike K.]

At an independent liquor store this weekend, I asked the cashier how many craft beers they sell relative to union runoff.

She said by volume the union stuff goes out the door 10 fold but by customer split it can be fairly even, especially in summer with tourists etc. But she also said they have so many reps pushing so much stuff that they’ve started turning new craft beers away. It’s just too much, she said. And unlike wine, the space on the shelf for craft beer makes less money.

So who knows. But I can see the over-supply of craft beer becoming a drag when your goal is to sell as much as you can, not be a museum with 500 flavours of beer.

[Victoria Watcher]

And you want to turn it over, too, before it goes bad. Wine and spirits can sit on the shelf forever.

[Victoria Watcher]

And you want to turn it over, too, before it goes bad. Wine and spirits can sit on the shelf forever.

[amor de cosmos]

How about a “base beer” that you order, then squeeze in any variety of flavour additives? Like those Kool
Aid concentrated little squeeze bombs, or like they tint paint at the hardware store?

i've seen people do exactly that but with mio sport. i suppose you could put hop extract in one of those & use it to adjust its hoppiness?

[lanforod]

I don't think its a fad, but I do think there is a saturation of craft beer in the market now. 

 

Personally, I never buy 'union runoff' beer. Local craft is generally about the same price or at most a buck more for 6/12 pack and far tastier. Ignoring the occasional sale of 15 pack of crappy bud.

[lanforod]

I'm not sure that regularly remade local beer should really be called 'craft' beer anyways. Say, Phillips Blue Buck. They've been making that for a long time.

[Matt R.]

The craft beer bubble will eventually burst. It’s a fad now, and like all fads, it has a time limit.

As someone who buys beer for a living, the market is insane. Saturated. Over the top. I don’t know how they all stay afloat, aside from very low cost inputs. Build outs are so expensive!

At leas the ipa trend is over and sours are king.

Now if we could do away with the smash burger trend…

[Matt R.]

I don’t think Phillips qualifies for the “craft” part anymore at all. Too big.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s rare that the Stick in the Mud is locked up during the day and closed for business.

 

But the beating heart of The Stick, as it’s known to regulars, is far from dead.

 

David Evans recently signed over the cafe operations he started up 16 years ago to the Sooke Community Investment Co-operative, spearheaded by a group of regulars who couldn’t bear to see their favourite coffee spot closed for good.

 

Evans will continue running the roaster.

 

“I am passing along the assets of the cafe and the bakery. So The Stick in the Mud Cafe and the bakery to the co-operative,” Evans said.

 

 

 

 

https://www.cheknews...losure-1162084/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 July 2023 - 09:56 PM.