Recession Doesn’t Scare Them

Curtis Packer and Bill Readey bought a struggling downtown coffee shop with plans to pump money into an expansion.

That’s right. In the midst of a recession.

On Dec. 18 they took over Koffee? on Orange, near the corner of Orange and Chapel, one of the cozy ​“third place” caffeinated hangouts that sprang up around town over the past decade. They’re renaming it ​“Brū.” They plan to add freshly made lunch food to the menu, hire more staff, and increase hours.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” one of the shop’s baristas said while pouring a mug of green tea.

Last month Packer, who ran restaurants (such as Sloppy Jose’s) in an earlier life, noticed during one of his regular coffee pit stops that the shop started closing at 1:30 p.m. He also noticed that the place continued to draw a steady stream of customers.

He and partner Readey were convinced that building on the shop’s bedrock specialty coffee selection could revive the joint’s fortunes.

“I got mad that this place was closing earlier and earlier each day,” recalled Packer, who with Readey runs a paralegal service and a government-filing company two blocks up on Elm Street. ​“I talked to Duncan [Goodall, the owner, who also runs Koffee? on Audubon]. I He said, ​‘Put your money where your mouth is.’ I said, ​‘OK.’”

“The recession doesn’t scare me,” Packer said over a cup of (what else?) coffee the other morning, while a Beatles mix pumped ​“Mother Nature’s Son“ and ​“Rocky Raccoon“ through the shop.

Packer (at left in photo), who’s 52, recalls coming home and telling his wife he’d bought a coffee shop.

“She said, ​‘You should call it Brū. She gave me the spelling. Every woman I talk to loves that name!” Packer said. ​“I don’t know why.”

“I was shooting for the ​‘Regal Bagel,’” Readey (at right in photo) half-grumbled.

“The only place we’re having an argument,” Packer said, ​“is whether to put Ozzy on” the sound system.

Packer votes yes, Readey, no. ​“We’re still fighting about it,” Readey said. ​“I think [the music] angers as many people as it makes happy.”

Otherwise, the two agree on a plan of action. They increased the hours, now 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, 8 – 6 on Saturdays. They kept the existing five staffers, upped their hours. They plan to hire more, replace one of the two display cases with a second counter, to move orders faster. They’re redesigning the cozy space by the front window with easy chairs, a rug, maybe a bookcase.

Readey, who’s 28, once worked in the shop, back when it was called Moka. A guitarist for the band M.T. Bearington (before, that, Pencilgrass), he envisions adding a space for local labels to sell CDs and records. They’re inviting local artists to display and sell work on the walls. ​“We’ve got enough space. Even sculptors can exhibit,” Packer said.

A key addition will be soups, sandwiches and salads freshly made during the day. No burgers. (“We’ll leave for Tony at Orangeside” next door, Packer said.)

Asked if they’re banking on this corner of downtown coming back, Packer replied, ​“It never left.” It has a steady stream of downtown office workers, as well as a growing roster of apartment dwellers. They do hope that the construction of the ​“360 State” project on the old Shartenberg lot next door will bring new business.