Regional Update
30 March 2010  www.specialty-coffee.com The summer months can be sluggish. The locals you rely on for your morning rush leave for vacation.The students who fill your chairs during late-night study sessions go home. And the drinks that were hot sellers in the winter have cooled off in the sweltering weather. Luckily,the following coffee house owners found ways to draw customers in from the heat and stay profitable during the long summer months. PACIFIC NORTHWEST Katy's Corner Cafà Seattle, Washington During the warm summer months, Katy Leighton's brunch specials always draw in the locals. Leighton'sfrequentartshowsandbohemian atmosphere have endeared her three-year-old, 340-square-foot coffee house, Katy's Corner Cafe, to the young, hip crowd in Seattle. The store, which has seven tables and a couch, sits in the central district, the most densely-populated and ethnically-diverse area in the city. But like many coffee houses, her business slumps after the early morning rush and before the lunchtime crowd. So she does brunch specials to fill some of those empty seats.She serves quiche,pastries, and vegan meat dishes, making her place one of the few in town serving a vegan brunch. Plus, she bakes everything in the store just before serving it. She has a few good tricks to draw people in for the brunches, she said. She puts up a sign inside her store advertising the brunch specials, which attracts regulars, she said. She places an ad in a local alternative weekly newspaper, too. But by far the most effective advertisement is her windows. She offers brunch year-round, but during the summer it really brings people thanks to those windows, she said. In the summer, the weather's perfect, so she opens the three big picture windows covering the front of the shop when she starts to bake. Her shop sits in front of a popular bus stop. Everybody takes the bus in Seattle, Leighton said. We open those up and the smell hits the street and people say, `What's going on in there?' MIDWEST Frenz Coffee House Rockford, Michigan Themed drinks and live music are the key to bringing in customers during Rockford's many summer celebrations, said Rich Zeck, co-owner of Frenz Coffee House. BY PETER SUROWSKI Summer Promos Fill in 69 on Reader Service Form or visit www.OneRs.hotims.com/29314-69