Thoughts on Our 4 Year Anniversary

Today marks 4 years since we opened to the public on March 18, 2011.  In case you're wondering, the day after St. Patrick's Day is most definitely a great day to open a coffee shop, at least in Chicago.  I'm sure you can imagine why.

The past 4 years have had their ups and downs.


We knew when we chose the South Loop neighborhood that we had an uphill battle in front of us.  The South Loop just doesn't have the population density of other neighborhoods. Plus, it is still perceived as "scary" by some who live north of us so they don't visit for eating, drinking, or shopping.  Even more-so in 2011 than in 2015.

We were, are, and will be willing to fight this uphill battle because we believe the long term benefit will be worth it.  We envision that, if we put in the effort at the beginning when small businesses around us was somewhat scarce, we'd become a neighborhood institution.  Even if lots of competition opened up later, we hope we'll be so ingrained in the South Loop that no one could compete with our South Loop neighborhoodliness.  Besides, the more direct trade coffee being consumed the better!

Did we accomplish this vision?  Hard to tell.  But I think that, if we were gone, we'd be missed by lots of folks.

So, what got us through the past 4 years?  In a word, perseverance.  Even when the going got tough, we pushed through.  We tightened our belts.  We put in long hours.  We never gave up or backed down.  We went through the pits of despair and kept our hope alive.  We won't bore you with all the details but I can tell you I wouldn't want to live through it again.  I would add that we didn't persevere alone.  There were lots of friends, family, loyal customers who stood with us and helped us when we couldn't keep going on our own.

What's next? We're close to becoming profitable and then the sky is the limit.  We've got some great ideas along the lines of Placemaking, a real South Loop Chamber of Commerce, franchising, and further mentoring/coaching of others who want to start coffee shops of their own.  There's still a lot of slavery in the world as people produce coffee, clothing, flowers, sugar, etc.  There is still lots of work to do and we're not giving up anytime soon.  Face it.  You're stuck with us.  :-)

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2015 Individual Overflow Membership - Join the Movement!

Support local, independent business...

Make a positive difference with your purchasing power...

Be part of a growing community of world changers...

All without tracking points, punching cards, or earning stars (whatever that means).

Overflow Membership is a straight-forward 10% discount program for your favorite coffee, tea, pastry, sandwich, fair trade gift item, and more!

Minimal hassle for 10% off every purchase, all year long.

Click here to find out more and purchase your membership online!

Celebrating 3 Years!

March 29, 2013 

8am to 6pm - Free Cake*!  Raffle Prizes!

*while supplies last

7pm to 9pm - Coffee Tasting!  Speed Networking!  Impact Sharing!

Advance tickets required.  Purchase at http://overflow3years.bpt.me.

Special Guests Include:

Marc J. Lane  - Mr. Lane is seen as one of the chief authorities on L3C.  Overflow is an L3C.  He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, where he has taught courses in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance and where he currently teaches the Social Enterprise course. He is Chairman of the State of Illinois’ Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise.


Tim Taylor - Mr. Taylor owns Ipsento, an award-winning, direct-trade roaster and coffee shop in Bucktown.  He is Overflow’s roaster.  He has worked in virtually every role imaginable in specialty coffee - including green coffee buyer and Cup of Excellence judge.


#Overflow3Years

It's also Daystar Center's 3 Year Anniversary so they'll be involved in these festivities as well!  As they say, "Gather.  Connect.  Grow."

*

How to get FREE Coffee

In addition to general Overflow Membership (see the last post), we also have extra special memberships that make you coffee FREE!

Coffee-lover Membership

• Cost: $1,000
• Benefits:
• Free Large Coffee Every Day for 1 Year
• All benefits of general Overflow Membership until 12/31/2016

Overflow Patron 

• Cost: $10,000
• Benefits:
• Free Brewed Coffee for Life!
• All benefits of general Overflow Membership until 12/31/2018

You can become a Coffee-lover or an Overflow Patron the next time you stop by or by using the buttons to the right on your screen.  

Don't like these options… we're open to suggestions.  Just let us know what you'd like to do to help us "take it to the next level" and continue to brew coffee that not only tastes good but feels good too.

Want to know how we'd use your money?  Check out the last post.

2014 Overflow Memberships Now Available! (and more)

Get 10% off everything you purchase from Overflow Coffee Bar with a 2014 Membership for only $50.00.

• The discount includes: food, drink, t-shirts, tumblers, fair trade gift items and more! The discount does not apply to catering orders since those are already discounted.  If you spend $10 a week or more on average at Overflow, a membership will pay for itself and then some over the course of the year. $10 is the equivalent of a small coffee each day Monday through Friday or a sandwich and latte on the weekend. It's also great for those who purchase coffee for brewing at home!
• Members also get extra perks that no one else receives. This includes: 
• VIP seating at documentary film screenings! 
• VIP access and discounts at our 3 Year Anniversary celebrations. 
• The card is valid from the time of purchase through December 31, 2014. 
• Only a limited number of cards are available. 
• A single membership is only valid for 1 person. No sharing. 
• To get your card, 
• Purchase it when you come into Overflow next.  Be ready to pay $50 via cash or credit.
• Purchase it online right now and we'll mail it to you.  Click here or use the button to the right.
• Overflow Membership makes a great gift.  If you’re interested in giving a membership as a gift, please note that when you're purchasing it. 
• If you have any questions, contact Amanda at amanda@overflowcoffeebar.org or (312) 772-2356. 

But wait there's more!  

If you purchase a membership, you might be curious to know what we're going to do with your $50.00.  We're doing some other fundraising too because here's what we'd love to do:

• If we reach 80 memberships (or raise $4,000 total), we'll be able to get outdoor patio seating for the Spring and Summer (pending a city permit).
• If we raise another $30,000, we'll be able to add a full-time "developer" position to take what we've created in starting up Overflow and keep it going and growing over time.  The "developer" will be charged with maintaining and expanding the awesomeness of Overflow.
• If we raise another $63,000, we'd be a lot more stable as a business.  Right now, if some unforeseen circumstance (like equipment failure) happened, it could cause us to go out of business.  With increased stability, we'll be able to look more toward increasing our impact locally and globally instead of worrying so much about making payroll.

Yes, we're shooting for the moon and hoping for the impossible.  We figure we'd rather put our hopes and dreams out there and see what happens.  Thanks to all of you who believe in us and want to see us not just stay in business but improve, grow and increase how much we change the world.

Click here to see our progress toward these dreams!