Is An Economic Revival Brewing with New Coffee Shops?

Coffee shops have become the nation’s favorite gathering place. Over coffee and a pastry many a friendship is forged or a business is formed. Pine Bluff is home to two new shops with growing customer base.

“I grew up being around coffee shops,” says Maryann Lee, owner of Indigo Blue Coffeehouse in downtown Pine Bluff. “I was accustomed to going to coffee shops while I was in college at Wayne State. And, I just thought this place begged to be a coffee shop.”

Lee, who lived most of her adult life in Detroit, moved back home to Pine Bluff in 2011. A few years later, she bought the building that eventually housed her dream.

“It was a wreck, but I saw all the possibilities, and I wasn’t deterred by its condition,” Lee recalls. She started the renovations in September 2015, waded through the months of construction and code inspections, and sold her first cup of coffee at Indigo Blue in June.

The Jefferson County courthouse is less than a block from Indigo Blue and draws customers looking for lunch.

Sha Moody, who works at the courthouse, is already a fan. “My dad came to visit me today, and I said, ‘Let’s go have lunch.'” The two sat at one of the tables with soft tan leather chairs, had lunch, and talked. “It’s good to have choices,” says Moody. “I love it…I think she knows me as chia tea,” laughs Moody.

The walls are covered with pictures that chronicle major events in history. Ebony magazine covers line the brick walls. And, there is a bookstore in the back of the coffee shop.

“It’s going very well,” Lee says. In the fall she plans to extend the hours into the evening. The later hours are already a response to customer requests and an effort to accommodate the college students at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

“Do you want that to go?” asks Tawanda Harrington. Harrington and her husband, William, own Coffee Jones, another new coffee shop located within walking distance of UAPB.

Mitchell Smith, the director of football operations at the University, is a regular customer.

“I’ll take it to go,” Smith replies. “Soon as they opened the doors, I got a feel for the food, and it reminded me of home, I got hooked to the culture. It feels urban.”

Smith is a New Orleans native and spent time working with the Chicago Bears. He sits at the counter with the ease of a customer familiar with the owners.

“We saw a need for a place to socialize,” says Harrington who grew up in Milwaukee but moved to Pine Bluff with his wife and two sons a few years ago. “We saw this spot and fell in love especially since it’s by the college.”

Coffee Jones spent a short time in the Pines Mall but opened in April on University Drive.

A giant chalkboard  listing the sandwiches and wraps dominate one wall, and Lauren Hill is singing one of her classics as the Harrington’s brew coffee and discuss their menu.

“Because we know the students need their vegetables, we sneak them in burritos,” they say with a smile. “It used to be just a burrito, and we changed it to the stuffed burrito. And, they come back for it.”

One of the quotes on the wall reads, “Use your own brain.” Many of the words of wisdom sound like advice from family members.

“We feel like we are their uncles and aunties over here,” the couple says.

Back downtown, Lee and  her full-time employee, Regina, took stock of the day’s pastries.

“I noticed there were no coffee shops at the time,” says Lee as she reminisces about those days when she first decided to open a coffee shop.

With both shops offering food, java, and the coffee shop vibe, competition could be brewing. And, Indigo Blue and Coffee Jones may very well be examples of a town on its way to rebuilding.