Coffee shop owner living her dream
From her early morning alarm until her afternoon closing hour, Jeannie Schell’s business is dedicated to getting other people through the day.
As the owner of Bump-N-Grind Coffee House in Post Falls, replacing the Black Tie Coffee Co. in its Spokane Street home, Schell has provided a caffeinated shot in the arm to her customers with a flavorful assortment of brewed beverages, including cream cheese and orange-flavored Doma coffee creations. Since purchasing the business and switching names in May, which Schell said came about from a family member as a cheerful, tongue-in-cheek title, the owner has kept the Black Tie menu intact and added even more homemade scones to the mix.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to own a coffee shop for some reason,” said Schell, who was a medical assistant until early 2008 when her former employer started a round of layoffs. Once she decided to fulfill that long-held dream of small business ownership, “I put all my life savings into this,” she added.
Making such a drastic career change wasn’t an easy maneuver, and Schell, the lone employee, was forced to learn the business in a trial by fire fashion.
“It was pretty scary. It took a lot to do that – to put it all on the line,” she said. “All my money went to buying the business, so I didn’t have anything else to fall back on.”
During the first few months of business, the coffee house saw a steady stream of customers snake through the drive-through and front doors. “Business was really good,” Schell offered.
Lately, however, the slumping economic has resulted in customers across North Idaho clamping down on their spending habits, with many businesses including Bump-N-Grind feeling the pinch. The slowdown in sales has grown from a concern just a few months ago, to a crisis in recent weeks, Schell said, so much so that she might lose her lease.
“Right now I’m hoping for a miracle,” she said, as her tone grew sullen. “Pretty much my life is invested in this place; it’s my baby at the moment.”
And much like an infant, Schell devotes most of her waking hours to the operation. The coffee and pastry maker starts her day just like her customers, with a cup of coffee – only at 3:30 in the morning. From there Schell starts baking her signature scones, which include chocolate chip, orange cream and wild berry lemon, so that the freshly made pastries are just cooling when the business opens at 6 a.m.
Even though her future remains uncertain, Schell said her $65,000 investment has been rewarding in other ways.
“It was hard to make that transition (from the medical field), but I love it. I like the interaction with the customers and it makes me feel good to have accomplished this,” Schell said, referring to the coffee shop and all its inner workings while standing behind the counter on a recent afternoon.
Her hard work and genuine nature haven’t gone unnoticed by Bump-N-Grind’s faithful followers – many of whom grew attached to the original Black Tie offerings before Schell bought the business.
Jon H. praised Schell’s small-business approach in an e-mail after he stumbled across the coffee house on a recent trip to Post Falls.
“What I found there was amazing. It’s a shop that is owner-operated, and this young woman is one of the most-hard working people I think I have come across in a long time,” he wrote, signing off as “a now very loyal customer.”
“I think that someone should be honoring the small business owners like Jeannie who care enough to go that extra mile for their customers.”
Schell said her favorite part of the job is serving the community, whether it’s by providing coffee or donating gift cards to help Post Falls High School students raise money for events. “It’s been fun, I’ve enjoyed it a lot,” she said. “I’m just hoping I can pull it together right now and not lose it all.”