Chronicle Coffee is a community coffee shop at a crossroads.
Located at 1235 Blumeyer Ave., Chronicle Coffee sits on the corner adjacent to the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Page Avenue. To the north is Grand Center. On Page Avenue sits a row of public housing units, managed by the Blumeyer Village Tenant Association. On the MLK Blvd. are dilapidated buildings, check cashing facilities, liquor stores and “watering holes,” says Jason Wilson, owner of Chronicle Coffee.
However, he says, the re-development projects act as beacons of a community’s attempt to control its own narrative, the epitome of Coffee Chronicle’s slogan and tagline.
“Controlling the Narrative: We believe that the community builds itself from the inside out” essentially means that a community should never allow itself to be defined by others.
“Instead of someone saying, ‘This is a neighborhood that is falling apart, has a high crime rate and nothing’s really going on here,’” Wilson said, “you control the narrative and tell people what you want them to feel about the community.”
He hopes Chronicle Coffee will provide a forum for civil discourse and social engagements and help catalyze the community to move in the right direction by revitalizing urban neighborhoods.
“We’re going to put our own money into a coffee shop and a community,” Wilson said.
In the shop, vintage photographs of former residents of the Blumeyer high-rise public housing projects are prominently displayed. These photographs depict two-parent households; suit-clad men engaged in positive dialogue; and a community forum on neighborhood improvement.
The idea to open his own coffee shop evolved from an excursion to China, where coffee was one of the most consumed products, and the demise of one of his previous businesses, Efficacy Auto Car Wash and Detail Spa. He vowed that his next business venture would be “bullet-proof and for the community.”
His vision began taking on concrete form in 2010 after a chance encounter with Rick Milton, then owner of St. Louis-based Northwest Coffee Roasting Co. Wilson flat-out asked Milton if he was willing to sell his company, a move he admitted in hindsight seemed far-fetched.
It turns out that Milton was in the market to sell his coffee franchise and Wilson began the acquisition process, which was finalized last December. Wilson now owns both Northwest Coffee locations in Clayton and the Central West End.
“It would take much longer to get the brand recognition I need to be successful in this community without a strong product behind it,” Wilson said of the acquisition.
His new business was privately funded by Wilson and others in his personal network. “There was no bank money for any of this,” he said. “If you invest in a community with a good product and quality space, then people will come and be supportive.”
The new cafe` on Blumeyer serves breakfast, lunch, a variety of coffee products, teas and hot cocoa. Wilson recommends the Barista Egg off the breakfast menu, which is steam-cooked using an espresso machine and made to order. The lunch menu consists of soups and an assortment of salads and sandwiches.
Chronicle Coffee focuses on building global connections by directly importing high-quality fair-trade raw coffee beans from African countries like Ethiopia and Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer.
“This is a good place for us to be, right here in North City,” says Albert Jacobs, barista at Chronicle Coffee. “So far, we’ve inspired some people. They want jobs and to be a part of this.”
Chronicle Coffee, 1235 Blumeyer Ave., is open M-Fri. 6:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sat. 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Sun: 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
