This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the beautiful legacy theater in Alpharetta, Georgia, for code launch Atlanta, 2021. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Now here’s your host.
Stone Payton: [00:00:23] And we are back broadcasting live from code launch Atlanta twenty twenty one from the beautiful legacy theater out here in Alpharetta. We have had some marvelous conversations and we’ve had some terrific food. We had an opportunity just a few moments ago to meet this gentleman, and we just had to get him on air. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Fuel Coffee Cafe. Mr. Dave Thompson. How are you, man?
Dave Thompson: [00:00:51] I’m doing well. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] So how did you kind of hear about code launch?
Dave Thompson: [00:00:58] So Scott McMichael actually is a regular at Fuel Coffee Cafe, and him and I got to chat in one day and he said, hey, man, we’re going to have a cool hackathon. Come to Alpharetta. You want to be a part of it. And I jumped in with both feet with him and him, and I started discussing what it would look like and what he wanted to see out of us. And we were able to take some of our menu items and kind of evolve them into what he was looking for, for some small bites. But, you know, still held true to the fuel coffee menu.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:26] So Teal Coffee is an actual cafe here in Alpharetta. And but you do you do any other catering or this kind of special event? You do some catering as well?
Dave Thompson: [00:01:35] Yes, we do breakfast and lunch all day in the shop and we take our menu and we kind of evolved into a eight to 10, 12 to 15, 15 to 20 person catering packs where we can accommodate coffee and pastries, coffee and breakfast, coffee and lunch. However you’d like us to say, you can do
Lee Kantor: [00:01:52] Any any event. Time is that’s relevant. You have you have a service that can accommodate that.
Dave Thompson: [00:01:58] Yeah. Yeah, we can do just about anything you’re looking for, whether in the cafe or in your residence or business.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:04] Now to talk about the history of the cafe, I mean, you decided to do this during an interesting time, a chaotic time, and then you’re it sounds like you’re really making a good go at it. So you got things are pretty rocking and rolling.
Dave Thompson: [00:02:18] Yeah. So, I mean, I’ve been in the restaurant industry a little over 20 years and through the pandemic, struggled just like most people did. And the frustrations of some of the things that, you know, corporations were doing during the pandemic kind of got my my wife and I thinking about what we could do as an independent coffee shop. So we decided that we were going to, you know, throw our hat in the ring and get together. And we we created a menu. Angela did some great work with reaching out to some local roasters. And we got a blend of coffee that we use exclusively in the shop. And we decided to to give it a go. March of this year. And things have been going pretty well for us. And we’re excited. We got a great community in Alpharetta and we’re we’re happy to be a part of it.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:01] So now what’s it like when you’re kind of you’re the entrepreneur and a lot of the folks here at code launch are entrepreneurs trying to figure things out. How do you take kind of a coffee shop concept and then say, OK, how can we squeeze the most juice out of this? Where where are the opportunities? How do how do you kind of go about kind of the ideation of this? You know, coffee is everywhere, but it’s also wherever it is, you want to make it special and stand out.
Dave Thompson: [00:03:27] There aren’t 100 percent. So, honestly, a lot of it is trial and error, but the real root of the business is taking care of people. So, you know, you have to have a good product. If you put a good product out there, people will come and they’ll find it. But the experience that people want to have, whether it’s in a coffee shop or a restaurant or whatever it may be, the experience is going to bring someone back. So if you can create an atmosphere that someone, you know, the welcoming greet, making sure that a guest feels like they’re walking into a family member’s house, taking care of them, you know, we have quite a few regulars, even in the five months that we’ve been open that have been coming back and getting to know them, getting to learn about them and their families and, you know, their children and what they have going on in their lives, just creating that experience. But, you know, that’s that’s the biggest part. You know, if if you can create an experience for someone and you have something good to offer them as well, that’s how you build a good brand right there.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:22] So now how did kind of the the taste and flavor component come in? You mentioned you have a lot of experience in the, you know, industry, but how did you kind of land on, OK, this is the signature fuel taste and this is kind of the products and kind of look and feel of what we’re going to be.
Dave Thompson: [00:04:40] So we drank a lot of coffee. My wife and I, we worked with our roaster to to find the right blend. And there’s a there’s a wide spectrum of coffee that you can have out there, mediums and darks and different types of blends in, different types of roasts. And even the beans, you know, are make a huge difference in what the what the coffee is going to taste like. So it was, again, a lot of trial and error. We tasted a lot of coffee. Angela did an amazing job working with our roaster. We have a medium to dark roast blend. It’s about a 60-40 blend. And she worked with him and ate all this. Take a little thisway, make sure it’s like this. And, you know, she explained what she wanted and they both got to where it is now. And that’s that. It was the. Probably the toughest part of of opening the business was deciding on the coffee and, you know, you want to have something that you like in there, but you also want to have something that resonates with everyone else.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:32] And then what about the menu?
Dave Thompson: [00:05:34] The menus. All me I’m a I’m a foodie. I love food. I love creating with food. And, you know, just experiences a lot of the things that are on our menu are things that I love, but also that that translate well. We actually put an avocado toast on the menu, and I really had no idea what avocado toast was. But I tried sample and some I did a few different things and I grew to love it. So it’s just, you know, it’s knowing what is relevant and what is good. And we got a good combination of both out there.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:05] So now you said it’s only been five or six months now. How is it going as planned? Is this is it as rewarding as you anticipated? Like what what’s the what’s been like for you?
Dave Thompson: [00:06:16] It’s actually been a little bit better than expected. You know, coming off the back end of Covid and the uncertainty of what that brings and even the uncertainty of what is to come. Like I said, the community has been very welcoming for us and we have exceeded our expectations to this point. So, you know, we’re we’re looking forward to the next five months and hopefully the next five years and hopefully a few more shops down the road as well.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:40] So now is the goal to ultimately franchise or is it always going to be owner operated? What are you looking at as kind of the road map?
Dave Thompson: [00:06:47] So we really haven’t looked at far into the future. I know. I’d like to get to 10 café’s owner operated. And, you know, if we’re at 10, I don’t know how much I can do more than that by myself. So at that point, it’s a possibility to look into the franchising aspect or maybe even, you know, a different avenue at that point. But but I know I can handle 10 in previous lives. I’ve had multiunit operator experience and and I’ve gotten up to as many as 16 restaurants at one time. And that was way too much. But I know 10 is a good solid number, a manageable number. So when I get to 10, I’ll probably have a different answer for you. But but right now, it’s going to be owner operated.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:26] And then where is this location?
Lee Kantor: [00:07:28] So we’re in Alpharetta. We’re just south of Wynwood Parkway on Main Street. We’re located at 800 North Main, and we’re in Suite 110. We are directly next to Compania Italian Restaurant.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:38] And then the website
Dave Thompson: [00:07:40] Is fuel atel dot com.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:42] And can you buy the coffee online or is it only that the only place to get it is if you physically go in?
Dave Thompson: [00:07:47] No, you can you can buy online and we’ll ship beans to you. And you can also order online ahead and come pick up in the in the shop at full at Alcom.
Stone Payton: [00:07:56] Well, I love it, man. Keep up the good work. We’re going to continue to follow this story. And we have a studio here now for an and not not just down the street on one word from him inside a Renaissance bank. And so I know where that is. Yeah. So we visit there from time to time. So we’re going to continue to follow your story. It’s one. What an exciting time for you, man.
Dave Thompson: [00:08:14] Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yes, sir.
Stone Payton: [00:08:16] We sure appreciate you joining us one more time. Points of contact, Web site, email, whatever you think is appropriate.
Dave Thompson: [00:08:21] So it’s fuel at Telcom. You can email me personally a Dave add fuel at elcome or you can call the shop six seven eight eight six one six nine one zero. So love to hear you. And please give us a call and we’ll take great care of you.
Stone Payton: [00:08:36] You got it, man. All right. We’ll be back in a few from code launch Atlanta. Twenty twenty one.
