"There's a sense for me that the coffee and food are a vehicle for the relationships." - Dan Kreider, Broomtown Cafe

Relationships: one of the most important business concepts, according to Dan Kreider of Broomtown Cafe in Arcola, which opened in downtown Arcola in the fall of 2019.

How did Kreider get into coffee? In his 20s, he was traveling in Virginia when he tasted a black coffee that literally tasted like blueberries. "I had no idea you could make really good coffee if you used really good equipment," Kreider says.

And that's when he started thinking about coffee and coffee culture.

After moving to Arcola, he sensed a coffee void in the village, and began workshopping it with some people. Then, the current building became available, and downtown Arcola gained a new business, and a new energy. (Probably the caffeine.)

Having spent several mornings at Broomtown Cafe, and after our talk, it is obvious that being a meaningful hub of the community is important to Kreider.

"Anytime the social fabric [of a community] gets tears in it, what can we do to put it back together? Main Street culture is worth working hard for and fighting to keep," he says.

So, where can he improve the business? After experiencing year over year growth that more than doubled in the first few years, Broomtown's growth has recently plateaued. How can Broomtown attract new customers, or get existing customers to come in more often? Through specials, rewards, changing the menu, new offerings? Or is it due to external factors, like downtown construction projects?

"One of our biggest opportunities is how to shout more loudly with marketing," Kreider says.

Broomtown uses Facebook and Instagram now, and creates stunning coffee art posts and new item announcements that get a lot of views. But, in social media marketing, there is always room for growth, and multiple avenues to reach a target audience. And is social media always the answer? After all, marketing is more than just social media.

Kreider focused our visit on discussing business concepts, and answering our questions, so we covered quite a few topics, including:
- MVC or MVV (Mission, Vision, Culture/Values/Core Values)
- SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
- Logo design
- Challenges
- Opportunities
- Working within the constraints of your space
- Pricing
- Real value vs. perceived value
- Quantifiable vs. relative distinctions
- Measuring growth
- Expense distribution

Then, Kreider turned the tables on us and asked us for ideas to help him target customers our age. That really got us thinking and brainstorming. In fact, we hope to work with Kreider on some of our ideas in the future.

Thank you to Dan Kreider and everyone at Broomtown Cafe, for making Broomtown our "third space" in Arcola. We love the culture and coffee, and look forward to Broomtown's continued success and future growth.