My friend told me that I needed to update my blog.  To be honest, I have had so much going on that I don't get to spend the time on here I should.   

Our cafe has been growing... in this economy I know that's a miracle and I am so thankful to have the customers, friends and family I do supporting our dream.  Most people start a new business for a number of reasons: to be their own boss, to make money, retire early, whatever...  our dream was never about money... Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be able to pay my mortgage, but for us it was more about creating a place where people can come and sit and relax.. escape their problems, share their comedy routine, try out the music they have been working on... find a place where they feel like they fit in, where they are part of the action and not just a number, a place for kids to go on a Saturday night where there won't be drugs or peer pressure, or any of that crap.  We're still a work in progress, but I am so proud at how far we have come.   Hey, we'll even give you a hard time when you come in if you look grumpy. 

As I type this, I am fortunate to be able to hear the amazingly talented Alex Siniari play his music.  Alex is going to be a star one day and we'll be able to say we knew him when.  He's the kind of musician where when you hear him play, you can just tell that its only a matter of time before he'll be moving on to bigger and better things.  So, we better just enjoy it while he's here. Alex can be found here on Monday nights at 8pm and on Thursday during our Open Mic Night with Ray Tyler from WTTH.

So, what have we been up to?  We have been growing our wholesale operation where we meet with restaurants and other businesses that serve coffee and we sell it to them at a wholesale rate.  Aside from featuring fresh roasted coffee, we don't have a minimum order, can supply our customers with customized house blends, equipment, and training.   So if a customer only needs 50 one pot bags, we can do that.  Right now, you can enjoy our coffee at Stewart's Root Beer in Northfield, Trinity Masonic Lodge and we have more on the way.

We just a got a new shipment of beans in from: Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, and Hawaii.  I roast at least once a week, so the beans are always fresh! 

The main attraction at our cafe, Mary, is getting big.  All of our regulars stop to visit her before ordering their coffee.  She is crawling and getting into everything.  The funniest thing is that she loves the Mirage (our espresso machine).  Hey, the girl's got great taste.  She loves to hold onto the portafilters and cries when you take her away from it!

Well, its time to close up for the night!  Thank you for checking in and stop by sometime!

In addition to our Bible Study on Monday Nights, we are proud to introduce Alex who plays awesome, original music.  He is incredibly talented and will be with us starting at 8pm.

On Wednesday night, we will be featuring QUIZZO!!!  Join us starting at 7pm for a fun, 7 round trivia game.  Just in case you aren't familiar with Quizzo...  According to http://www.nationaltrivia.com Quizzo, presented by the National Trivia Association is a nationally organized live “game show style” trivia competition. The first version of this game originally started in the early 1990’s in Philadelphia, PA. Since that time, various versions of Quizzo run by dozens of independent hosts have spread across hundreds of bars in the greater Tri State area. Quizzo is usually found in pubs, but we have unique opportunity to play it in our coffee house! 

On February 7th from 1-4pm the Kiwanis Club of Pleasantville hosts another Psychic Fair!  Call 609-407-9500 for details/appointments.

FAQ’s

Most sites have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.  While we don’t have a page dedicated to FAQ’s, I thought I would post answers to some of the questions we are asked.  These are questions we have been asked.  And, if they are on this list, its been asked more than once… seriously.

Are you a franchise?  We aren’t a franchise.  We are an independently, locally owned coffee house.  My husband and I run our business together with a select staff of really great people.  Our newest helper, Mary, arrived in July.  I grew up in the township and my parents still live here.  Opening our business in EHT has been a real homecoming for me.  Go EHT Eagles! 

What brand of coffee beans do you use?  We don’t use a brand of beans.  Actually, we work with a green bean (unroasted coffee beans) importer and import the finest green beans from all over the world.  We have featured coffee from Ethiopia, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, New Guinnea, Africa, El Salvador, Brazil, and Sumatra, just to name a few.  Our offerings are updated frequently, just inquire at the counter.  The next time you are in our place take a look at the burlap sacks.  They contain unroasted coffee beans.

Why did you call it “Hill of Beans”?  After my husband and his morning show partner (also a good friend of mine) were let go from their jobs, it prompted us to pursue our dream of opening a coffee house.  One of the first steps in our process was coming up with a name.  Anyway, we had just recently watched the film ‘Casablanca’, and when Rick Blaine said the line at the end, “…it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world” we knew we had to name our coffee house “Hill of Beans”.  It was the problems of three little people that inspired our name.

Why coffee? Coffee… isn’t it what brings everyone together?  For me, coffee means so many different things.  It means family gathering around the table after a holiday dinner; friends getting together to exchange gossip; colleagues meeting to discuss business and sometimes, just an afternoon treat.  We wanted to offer that to the community.

Do you sell beans?  Yes, we sell our roasted coffee by the pound.  We also sell the green for those who like to roast at home.  We have a number of different origins and blends that we offer.  We can also order Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain beans and roast them to order.

Do you have a bathroom? Yes, but we prefer to reserve it for customers (ie people who bought something). 

How long have you been opened?  We opened February 4, 2008.

Do you sell baked beans?  Um, no.  Even though we’re called “Hill of Beans”, we mean coffee beans.

We wanted to say "Job well done" and "Congratulations" to the Oakcrest Mantas swim team for an awesome fundraiser!  We had the wonderful opportunity to work with The Mantas when they sold our coffee and tea as part of their fundraising program.  They did a great job and sold a ton!   

Here's how it worked:  They collected orders for coffee and tea for a couple of weeks, and submitted their orders on a Thursday morning.   We roasted over the weekend, bagged the coffee, and they had everything by Monday afternoon. How's that for fresh?! 

We thank The Mantas so much for working with us!  I don't know who had more fun:  the Mantas or us!  And, we especially thank Dr. Richard & Dawn Lolla (Lolla Family Chiropractic Center on Route 30 in Galloway) for bringing The Mantas to us for this unique fundraiser! A little known fact:  Dr. Lolla is a very talented Roastmaster for our coffee house!!

If your organization is looking for an easy and fun fundraiser, give us a call 609-407-9500!

Hi, Hiro!  We miss you, too!  Thanks for reaching out to us!  We not only have decaf (drip coffee and espresso) we feature a whole host of non-coffee/non caffeine drinks!  So, you better get your butt back in here or else!  --Anne

So much has happened since the birth of our daughter, with our business and our personal lives!  I feel bad having not updated this earlier, but finding a few quiet moments in tough, and finding a quiet moment where I can actually think and form words that make sense is even tougher!  Here are a few tidbits in order to try to give you a quick update...

July:  As you know, our little girl was born a few weeks early.  I had a life-threatening case of HELLP Syndrome and had to be induced.  I don't want to turn this into a scary pregnancy post, but I want to bring attention to HELLP.  If you know anyone who is pregnant, have them seek the attention of a medical professional to discuss HELLP, just to educate themselves.  From what I understand, HELLP Syndrome is rare and occurs in less than 10% of all pregnancies.  I really don't mean to alarm anyone, but if I wasn't being treated by the best of the best at the Center for Childbirth at Atlanticare Regional Medical Center and my OB, I don't know if I would have survived.  I owe them my life and my daughter's (thank you NICU!) and will be eternally grateful to everyone there.  I had a wonderful hospital stay and received top-notch care.  Atlanticare is amazing care. 

In July, we began our regular Alternative Soul Open Mic Night on Thursdays.  Fridays brought Paul and Eric with great sing a long music! On Saturdays we introduced EHT Jamz, an open mic formatted night with young, very talented performers. Sundays, we featured, Jacob, a One Man Band who plays live jazz music from 1-3pm.  Mondays & Tuesdays included bible study groups meeting at our place. 

August:  We started to settle into life as a family and thanks to my wonderful employees and friends, our coffee house kept going without a hitch!  Everyone really pitched in and did a great job.  We are very thankful to have surrounded ourselves with the people we have in our lives.  Our coffee house business dipped a bit in August, mainly to due to some great beach weather but our regulars kept us afloat!  We also continued with our regular nightly events. Our Tea Room also hosted a number of events:  Bridal & Baby Showers, Girl's Tea Time and several meetings.

September:  Personally, September brought a scary turn of events.  Our girl Mary, wound up back in the hospital with Anemia.  She was so sick she required a blood transfusion.  After a few days in the hospital she was able to return home.  Once again, Atlanticare came through for us.  Our coffee house business picked up with the Back to School rush.  We added Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Hot Apple Cider to our menu.  Our nightly events continue to grow.  

October:  For Breast Cancer Awareness month, our whipped cream turned pink!  It was a fun and unique way to bring attention to breast cancer and how it has affected so many families.  Halloween brought a fun event to our place!  We handed out candy to trick-or-treaters and free coffee to the adults with them. 

November:  The Kiwanis Club of Pleasantville hosted their Psychic Fair fundraiser on a Saturday afternoon.  We offer the use of our coffee house for this event.  Kiwanis is a wonderful organization.  We love Kiwanis because of all of the wonderful ways it improves the lives of our children.  The money the Kiwanis raised from this event was donated to the Children's Hospital. 

November also brought some personnel changes.  Our beloved Luke's tenure here came to an end when he made the decision to return home to Ohio.  He came into our business at a very difficult time (I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and had a FT employee up and quit).  You just never know when someone comes in asking for directions what it can turn into!  He really helped us out, and always had a sunny outlook and did his work with a great sense of humor.  He always took the time to talk to everyone who came through the door, making them feel important, no matter how busy he was.  I know our Thursday Open Mic crowd misses him--since they're stuck with me!  I have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with him.

On a more positive note, Jessica aka "Jess with 2 s's" came back to us.  She had taken a leave of abscence for the Summer to work a little closer to home.  Not only is Jess one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet, she makes a mean Mocha!  Jess is a very talented artist, who will be showcasing some of her work in our coffee house soon.

We closed on Thanksgiving so our employees (and us!) could spend time with their families and then opened bright and early Black Friday morning to eager Early Bird Shoppers.

December:  We hosted a couple of different collections for toys, clothes, and non-perishable food.  December always reminds me of how blessed I truly am.  Anyone who starts a new business understands what the first year is like.  And while I may not have the money to do the things I want, but we are so fortunate in many, many other ways. 

I just wanted to list some of our events. 

Wednesdays 6-8pm - Donna Jean, Psychic, call 609-407-9500 or email anne@prattshillofbeans.com to make reservations.  We ask for reservations just in case Donna's schedule changes.

Thursday Nights 7pm-9pm Open Mic Night Hosted by Ray Tyler:  Everyone is welcome; poets, comdians, musicians! 

Fridays 7:30pm - Live music from The Jack Chamberlain Blues Band:  This band plays the best blues and rock around!

Saturdays 7pm - Adam Shaber & Friends: Enjoy music from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today!!

We will also be adding Scrabble Tournements, Speed Dating, and a free Lecture Series.

We held our 24 hour fundraiser.  Well, it was more like 36 hours.  We had a great time and were able to raise some money.  It wasn't as much as we had hoped, but for the first fundraiser and something so unusual, we did very well.  We raised about $600, and the foodbank received about $150 in cash donations and 200 pounds in food donations.  The foodbank always needs donations.  Hunger isn't just in the winter or during the holiday times. 

We are so grateful to so many people who helped out:  Our employees working some CRAZY hours, Dave & Jerry and the management of Kool 98.3 for donating their time at a live remote broadcast at our store to get the word out, the local newspapers for running ads, NBC 40TV for coming out and doing a great story on us, Donna Jean our psychic for hosting an awesome seance, and other psychics Snowflake and Ann for doing readings, too.  We featured a number of musicians to also keep the momentum going:  Adam Shaber & Family, The Jack Chamberlain Blues Band, and Joe Collepardi.  They all donated their time and supported our crazy fundraiser.  We'd also like to thank Jessie from Mary Kay, Regina from Sothern Living at Home, and Anne from The Pampered Chef for donating their time and door prizes to our event.  We had so much fun, we are going to host monthly shopping events with them and other great companies.  We'd also like to thank Liz and everyone at Galloway AMI for taking up a special collection of food for the foodbank; and the Pleasantville Kiwanis Club who took up a collection of food and stopped in to enjoy a few drinks. I think the only person who spent more time at the coffee house than me was Evelyn Benton, the director of our local foodbank.  When we came to her with this idea se was excited and happy to be a part of it, but I don't think she anticipated having to endure all the crazies who work here!  She was a good sport!

A special thank you to our great neighbors, Jojo's Italian Grille http://www.jojositaliangrille.com/ for generously donating gift cards to the event!

We are also thankful for the EHTPD for patroling the shopping center into the wee hours of the morning, keeping our staff safe.

If I forgot anyone, I sincerely apologize (its the baby brain thing)!   Please email me and let me know so I can be sure to include you!

Well, I guess its time we announce that we are pregnant!  I am due in August.  The unverse/God/whatever you want to call it has a sense of humor.  We tried for years and basically gave up.  Then, I find out just before our business opens, that we are pregnant.  At one brief point, we considered taking the fertility route.  I admire couples who are able to endure that, because I have always felt that I was/am not strong enough to do it.  Last year, I asked Donna Jean, our resident psychic if she thought I needed fertility and she has told me that I did not.  She added, "Once you leav your job, you will become pregnant.  The environment is not good for you."  It didn't occur to me until recently that I left my job in October and I became pregnant in November--three weeks later.  So, when people ask me "is Donna good"?  I have to say, "she is scary good".

Anyway, I decided to "come clean" now beceause for a while, it just looked like I was gaining weight, but its to the point now, where I am starting to look pregnant.  I am still at the cafe everyday, for most of the day, but my staff is starting to boss me around, telling me to sit down.  I am also having a tough time reaching the counter (where we place completed drinks) and the top of the espresso machine for cups.  I was short to begin with, and now there's a belly in the way. 

Not that I am not thrilled about our baby, I don't want to bore anyone by going too much into my pregnancy because the blog is mainly about our coffee house.

We have been opened almost three months and so much has happened!  I really don't know where to begin.  I think the thing that makes the biggest difference in our operation is our roaster's arrival. 

I flew out to Oklahoma to check out our roaster and had the chance to roast a few batches.  It was exciting and scary!  Its a pretty big machine!  I mean, not by industrial standards, but to me its pretty big.  Be sure to check our photo album for pictures of it.  The roaster will help us in a number of ways:  having our own beans available on site makes it very convenient and cost-effective; we'll be able to sell bagged whole beans in our store (finally!); we'll be able to offer a larger variety compared to what we have now, and some other great things we're working on. 

Every week, we feature Psychic Readings with Donna Jean.  Sometimes things come up in her schedule, so its a good idea to call ahead or make an appointment.  You can call the storee 609-407-9500.  Walk is are welcome, of course!  Another wonderful addition to our store is a band playing every Friday night:  The Jack Chamberlain Band.  They are a great group of guys and we love having them here.  There is nothing like listening to live music and enjoying a good cuppa. 

We've also discussed hosting speed dating, scrabble tournaments, children's story time, art exhibits and other events that we hope our customers will enjoy.  If anyone has any suggestions for events that might be of interest, just send me an email!

"Do not give up.  The beginning is always the hardest." (from the fortune cookie my Dad gave me)

Some time ago, after listening to my tale of woe regarding all things business, my Dad smiles, reaches into his pocket and pulls out this fortune that came from a cookie.  I have it taped to my register and I look at it frequently.   I would like to thing we're getting "the hard part" out of the way now, for smooth sailing later, but I am sure there will be more challenges to face. 

I just had to share that fortune.

Its been a bit since I've posted, and I have to start making more of an effort to post at the very least weekly.  So, a quick update:

We have been doing well.  We get a little busier each day.  I love working in the cafe and love most of my customers. For a new place, we have some regulars which is a huge compliment.  I am glad to see people come back.  I have a terrific staff.  I was pretty sick one week and they pretty much just ran the place for me--maybe even doing a better job!  LOL 

Our roaster has just been painted and I know they are about to fire it up to see how it goes.  Once they do that, we should be in business shortly.  We have someone roasting for us right now, a really great guy, who has been sooo helpful.  But there's nothing like doing your own roasting. 

Things that have happened: 

We had one customer who thought I was a witch.  Perhaps it was my pink hair or unique taste in jewelry.  As far as the jewelry goes, let's just say I like to wear "new age" jewelry.

We had an issue with our one fridge and of course, it was the same day as a huge dairy delivery.  The guys at the Italian place next door were absolute angels!  They just had our delivery go right into their walkin.  I saw that giant fridge and I was in heaven!  And, the equipment guy replaced our fridge the next morning.  It worked out great.

 The "I'm just looking" thing.  What is that?  It baffles me.   We have a million people who come in, take a look, say "I'm just looking" and leave.  They aren't rude, they are actuslly very nice, but its strange.  I could see if we were a retail place, but to come in and just look in a coffee place is odd to me.  For me to know if I would want to return to a place, I would have to try something.  Oh, well.

Well, we just had some customers come in, so I better get moving.

I really don't have anything against salespeople. Some of my closest friends are salespeople. I think they are an important part of the circle of life.

What I will say is that I like to do business with people who do business with me. I support those who support us. So, when someone comes in, tries to sell something and leaves without even buying a cup of coffee, it makes me less inclined to do business with them. Of course, I know someone can't buy something everywhere he or she goes, but it makes a difference to a small business owner--if one is just here to sell something, versus take a genuine interest in our business, take time to see the operation.

Cutting to the front on the line while I'm trying to make drinks--not cool. So, salespeople: order up, and order big!  And, don't expect me to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars with you, if you won't spend $1.00 with me.