When Melissa Layman opened River Maiden Artisan Coffee in downtown Vancouver in March, it wasn’t the first time.
Layman opened the first River Maiden coffee shop in 2005 in the former indoor Vancouver Farmers Market. She opened a Devine Road location in Vancouver three months later and continued operations there after the farmers market backed out of its downtown lease in 2007, she said.
In March, River Maiden returned downtown a few blocks from its original location.
“We’ve had people from the market who are so excited we’re back,” Layman said. “This is our old turf.”
Layman picked the new site after learning that Main Street was to become two ways and would gain Turtle Place nearby.
Opening a new location three years in was easier than it was the first time around, Layman said. She had funds reserved for expansion and build-out, and already had kitchen equipment on hand.
“We didn’t have the anxiety this time,” Layman said. “Opening two shops as close as we did (in 2005) was very difficult.”
Layman declined to share specifics about company revenue, but said she hopes to see profits downtown after six months, and two new shops could open in the next three years, she said.
The Devine Road shop, which will remain open, has served the company well, with 50 percent growth from 2007 to 2008 – enough to support seven part-time baristas. Three of them now work downtown.
Part of the company’s growth has come from educating customers about the Portland-roasted Stumptown Coffee River Maiden serves – where it’s from, how it’s made and how it’s traded.
“We’re developing customers that want more from coffee than just a latte from some place convenient,” Layman said.
To serve her coffee-literate crowd, she added a high-end Clover vacuum-press brewer to the Devine Road kitchen in 2007. The one-cup system sells for about $11,000.
“It pulls out more flavors in the coffee than if we brewed or French pressed it,” Layman said.
River Maiden Artisan Coffee is at 701 Main St. and 602 Devine Road in Vancouver. Layman can be reached at 360-859-3133 or at www.rivermaidencoffee.com.
Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com.
