Coffee shop reopens under new ownership

Central America came to Kirksville this summer and filled the air with the aroma of real Costa Rican coffee.

The Costa Rican Café replaced the former coffee shop, Washington Street Java Co, on July 1.

Owner Gerardo Rojas currently runs the business from his home in Costa Rica, but he said he will visit as often as he can. In the meantime, he said Internet and Skype helps him stay in touch with the business.  

He said he bought the shop to share some of Costa Rica with Kirksville.

"I always had a desire to maintain the connection between Kirksville and Costa Rica," Rojas said.

Rojas attended Truman in 1986 and is the nephew of Truman Spanish professor Vera Piper. Rojas said he had built strong relationships by the time he graduated in 1989, which helped him obtain employment after college.

He said his experiences and connections have been invaluable and inspired him to give back to his fostering community.  

"[Opening the store] gave me an opportunity to invest back in Kirksville by bringing back some of the best Costa Rica has to offer," Rojas said.

He said the Costa Rican Café functions on two main factors. He said the staff has been trained to maintain the friendly, relaxing atmosphere found at the previous café to keep customers happy and comfortable. The café will sell the highest quality coffee it can, he said.

"Because I live in Costa Rica, I am very close to coffee producers," Rojas said. "Costa Rica has an excellent quality of coffee, care for the environment and it is one of the best coffee producing countries in the world because of the atmosphere and the soil."

Gabe Parker, Truman alumnus and café manager, said he inserted himself into the business as soon as he learned the former Java Co was bought. Parker said he worked at Java Co for a few years and even considered buying the building and starting a business.

Because the building was bought before he could materialize his plans, Parker said he introduced himself right away to Brian Noe, the man who bought the place on behalf of Rojas. Parker said he informed Noe of his qualifications.

"I said, ‘I think I know the business and market as well as anyone,'" Parker said.

Parker said he helped with everything from cleaning up the old place to interviewing new hires and creating a menu.

He said that when the café opened July 1 as planned, it had a slow and easy start. Customers trickled in, but Parker said the slow pace helped everyone to figure out what needed to be done.

The pace picked up a little during the third and fourth week after opening, and Parker said he is looking forward to having students back on campus to speed things up and help business get underway.