Coffeehouse Culture

Source: Lansing State Journal
LANSING - Coffee shops, with distinct drinks and atmospheres to suit many tastes, have become today’s affordable luxury.

While straight black coffee in a foam cup hasn’t disappeared from everyday life, it has lost much of its appeal as more people gravitate to the Lansing area’s growing number of growing cafes.

People of all ages pay about $3 for tasty renditions of drinks such as caramel cappuccinos, white chocolate lattes of Irish cream steamers. Fresh pastries, baked goods and light lunch menus often accompany the drink selections.

Each shop also has its own atmosphere. Some find comfort in the worn couches, smoke-filled air and graffiti-covered walls at Café Latte, 110 Charles St. in downtown East Lansing. Others prefer places such as Cappuccino Café, with three area locations that offer a clean, 1950’s diner feel and frequent live jazz music.

“It really depends on what mood I’m in and what I’m going there for,” said Sujata Shende, a Michigan State University medical student.

Sipping Colombian coffee at Starbucks, 401 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing, Shende highlighted pages of handwritten notes and sat in her usual spot, a table near the warm fireplace.

Dean Soupal travels from his Okemos home to absorb the university energy at Beaners Gourmet Coffee 270 W. Grand River Ave. The East Lansing café opened in 1995.

“I come here because I like to have an atmosphere of busyness. I don’t like to feel like I’m alone,” said Soupal, a massage therapist.

“It’s a way to unwind and do it with other people,” he said. Soupal brings books and articles to the shop, where he enjoys reading with a crowd ranging from students and MSU faculty to middle-aged people and teens.

With six Beaner's locations in the Lansing area, many residents have become familiar with the shop’s earth-tone decor, soft music and outdoor patios.

The franchise - which has locations throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana - is now eying south Lansing, one of the few places where it has yet to set up shop.

More than 177 million Americans drink coffee, with 64 percent of those people drinking at least a cup a day, according to the National Coffee Association.

Twentysomethings and teens are driving the growth of the gourmet coffee industry, which went from 4.5 million regular drinkers in 1993 to 21 million in 1999, an association report showed.

Beaner's is not the only local coffee shop that’s expanding. Cappuccino Café recently has franchised, with more undisclosed locations planned for Lansing and around the state. “We’ve honed out systems and put in place a good product. Now we can confidently and comfortably put our name in someone else’s hands,” said Brenda Joseph, who owns the café with her husband, Mike, and Jack and Raeann Bogl.

The first Cappuccino Café opened in 1992, connected to Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 2299 W. Grand River Ave. in Okemos.

It was one of only a handful of coffee shops in the East Lansing area, including Espresso Royale Caffe and Beaners, Joseph said. Now there are more than two dozen in the Lansing area.

The coffee shop phenomenon began on the West Coast and gradually reached mid-Michigan, said Gary Hoppenstand, MSU professor of American thought and language.

“It’s a place of relaxation and contemplation, one of the few venues people have to get together and discuss ideas,” Hoppenstand said.

Aside from offering unique beverages, coffee shops signify a cultural center for many people.

“People tend to do their own thing apart from one another, and here is one meeting place they have,” Hoppenstand said.

This idea led David Ferland to open Hill of Bean Café and Tea House in 1995, at 910 Elmwood Drive in Delta Township.

Photos of regular customers fill an entire area of the green-and-yellow painted walls.

The shop is meant to bring the community together, he said. A bell rings when the door of the small café opens. Guests sit at circular wooden tables or on large wicker chairs with pillows.

When advising prospective coffee-shop owners, Paramount Coffee marketing manager Gail Powers tells them the environment they create is just as important as the product served.

“In today’s market, they’ve got to have friendly service, atmosphere and a good product, or they won’t survive,” Powers said.

With the increasing number of cafes in the Lansing area, competition is tough, Powers said.

Donna Jones, a senior in MSU’s nursing programs, sticks with Beaner's.

“It’s my favorite one. It’s always full with people when I come, and I see all different cultures.”
Source: Lansing State Journal