An atmosphere only found in a coffee shop.
Open since mid-September, the Green Bean Coffee Co. brings that atmosphere to west Dodge City.
"It started as an interest in coffee," owner John Hawkins said. "I'm a coffee connoisseur. My company Hawkins Investments Inc. owns several downtown buildings. I was looking at the possibility of doing something downtown. Green Bean Coffee Co. was a shop owned and operated in Greensburg I would often stop in. One day I made the comment that I would like to put a coffee shop just like it in one of my buildings downtown."
Turned out the owners had been looking to sell the business and after negotiations, Hawkins started considering where to open his coffee shop in Dodge City.
"We've had a gift shop downtown for 24 years, and we thought about making coffee a part of that for tourists," he said. "But we decided against downtown because we wanted to reach more traffic. We decided on Comanche Plaza on 14th Ave. and started renovations at the end of July."
Open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Green Bean Coffee Co. offers breakfast sandwiches and pastries and lunch sandwiches and wraps. The shop specializes in coffees and espressos, but ice cream and shakes are also available.
A grand opening ribbon cutting is set for 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. For the special occasion, ice cream cones will cost 99 cents.
"We have 12 employees and we're looking to continue to grow," he said. "We feel like we've filled a need in Dodge City with all of our products. We're hoping this will be something we can expand either in this community or another community.
"The community response has been positive. They like the consistency of our product and they like the service we provide. They've learned about us through word of mouth and social media."
Hawkins said the coffee shop isn't his first restaurant venture.
"Though my first attempt failed, I decided I wanted to get back into the restaurant business," he said. "My desire is to continue to help improve Dodge City. I believe in this town. I want to do what I can to help strengthen and grow the economy in Dodge City. Anything's possible. If you want something bad enough, go after it. If you truly believe in something, work towards that goal."
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