Coal Creek Coffee Co.

Posted January 16th, 2008 by Pearl

Background

Coal Creek Coffee Co. was established in 1993 as an authentic, west-coast style coffeehouse located in the Historic Downtown of Laramie, Wyoming. In 1995 John and Jodi Guerin purchased the operation bringing to it a sincere love of historic coffee culture, fine foods and quality driven concepts. Desiring to further their knowledge and understanding of the coffee industry the Guerin’s joined the ranks of the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) in 1997. The SCAA is a global organization comprised of business people and educators in every aspect of the coffee industry. Through years of diligent effort and continued customer support the Guerin’s have been able to nurture the original somewhat delinquent coffeehouse into a world-class, coffee café with a unique offering of exquisite baked goods, a full European-style menu and traditional espresso line up, all made in house, from scratch.

In the original business plan the Guerin’s had outlined their growth into coffee roasting by the end of their seventh year. Due to increasing regional admiration of their products and style they were prompted to open the Coal Creek Coffee Roastery in 1998 and expand their operations into national wholesale sales of their own top-quality coffees, assorted coffeehouse accoutrements and coffee equipment.

Coal Creek Coffee Co. is still privately owned and operated and headquartered in Laramie, Wyoming. We are a small artisan based operation with more than 40 years combined experience in the specialty coffee industry. We’ve won a number of awards over the years, most dear to us being the Best Small Business of the Year Award in 2002 from the Laramie Economic Development Corporation and in 2005 we were honored with the Mountain States Better Business Bureau’s TORCH Award for outstanding business ethics.

Prominent in our marketing is the notion of independent thinking, cheering on the under-dog and having fun sometimes at the expense of the big guys. Edgy Coffee is derived from this notion but it isn’t just a marketing tool. The term "edgy coffee" embodies our personality and our philosophies of high quality, always hand-made, always with honor. These concepts are hard to find these days and are what makes Coal Creek Coffee Co. special. These concepts are our edge, but they can sometimes be perceived as boring and pompous. Edgy Coffee is fun, and if you aren’t having fun you should probably find something else to do."

Keys to Success

Our Company Mission is to “Provide Quality, above and beyond all expectations”. This is our goal when developing our roasted coffees, preparing our hand-made foods, working with our staff and building relationships with our customers.

Our Company Philosophy is based on our belief that there is no substitute for the natural artistry created in goods touched by the human hand and that history, culture and integrity are essential ingredients to success in business and in life.

Our Company Guarantee speaks for itself: You’ll love our coffee, or it’s on us.

Special Events

Check out our website for the music calendar.

Target Customers

Home to Malcontents, Revolutionaries, and Do-Gooders of all kinds.

Challenges Faced

Living in Wyoming with a total state population of less than 500,000 and showing those few people what good coffee is.

Where We're Headed

Coal Creek has a culture of its own and we are taking it wherever it leads.

We will be opening our "Uptown" Laramie store this Spring.

Other Info

If you’re not familiar with us, we are a small artisan based coffee company with a passion for tradition, integrity, and excellence. We like the old-fashioned ways, but we’re not afraid of modern technologies. We believe that relationships are what make the world go ‘round.