Flecks Cafe Opens in Chatham - Why this is a big deal
I've written about Chatham before. To sum it up, it's an African-American neighborhood on the Chicago South Side that remained pretty safe and solidly middle-class for the second half of the 20th century. The last couple of years saw a rise in violent and property crimes. The real estate bubble burst, setting off a torrent of foreclosures. THe neighborhood commercial corridors lost businesses - and because of the South Side stigma, there haven't been a whole lot to replace them.
So when DNAinfo reported that a new coffee shop opened in Chatham - and it was going to have a grand opening soon - I knew that I had to check it out.
The grand opening of Flecks Coffee took place last Saturday. In the ideal world, I would have been able to do this post that very day, but I was pretty busy last weekend, so I had no choice but to postpone it until now.
I've been to Chatham a couple of times before, so I had a pretty good general idea of where it was supposed to be. But I wrote down the address just in case.
As it turned out, I needn't have bothered. Because, soon after I got off the bus, I heard loud music. And I got closer, I realized that it wasn't the kind of opening where the owners just put up a banner - or no. It was a freaking mini block party.
Complete with a DJ and everything
And as I looked around, I noticed that several local entrepreneurs set up tables to advertise the businesses. Which, when you think about, makes a lot of sense. Businesses in Chatham tend to work together. And so long as there was this big opening, why not help them out? It's a "rising tide lifts all boats" sort of thing.
Rhonda Young, a long-time Chatham resident, operates SendOutCards - a website where you can customize greeting cards online, have them printed and sent out. She showed some samples at her table.
Trudy Martin was selling a Pikbox - a plastic case for floss toothpicks. It's one of those things that doesn't seem particularly innovative - until you realize that she was one of the first people who thought of it. And that was in 2010. So, really, it's kind of impressive. And useful. More power to her.
And a bit further from the curb, social worker Tracy Wilson was advertising her self-published inspirational/advice book - God, Walk Me Through This.
But not everybody actually sold their stuff in person. Some seemed to have just left a table.
After I looked around the tables, I was ready to do what I actually came there for - visit the Flecks Coffee.
And I was pretty impressed
The design was great. I was hoping to order coffee, but with the weather being in the 90s, I had to order iced tea. I'm not a big fan of iced tea in general, to be honest, but it was good. And the cookies were delectable.
Flecks Coffee offers coffee brewed from coffee beans imported from various African countries. If the weather wasn't smoldering, I would've loved to try them.
The entire cafe had a pretty good design. Here is another, larger shot of the ordering area
The menu
And he eastern wall
Incidentally, in another "rising tide lifts all boats" moment, a local massage therapist was offering free massages inside the cafe. I didn't get a decent picture, unfortunately.
Another touch I liked was that, like any good cafe, it was promoting local events. There were plenty of flyers by the window and posted on the window itself. Oh, and they had copies of Uptown, an upscale African-American magazine.
Coffee shops tend to carry issues of local community newspapers, so it was nice to see copies of Chicago Independent Bulletin stacked by the door. To be honest, I thought Chicago Citizen would've been a better choice (it is a Chatham-based community newspaper), but that's just me.
In the end of the day, what I liked the most was the atmosphere. The genuine sense of joy the pervaded the place. Co-owner Zali Turner manned the counter, and she responded to all orders with a smile and courtesy. If a customer wasn't sure what to order, she did her best to help them narrow down the options. Her mother (and fellow co-owner) Olga Turner was always on the move, greeting customers, asking how they were doing, what they thought and seemed to positively glow at the sheer joy of seeing so many people enjoying themselves.
It would be interesting to see what happens to Flecks Coffee once the hype dies down a bit. I hope that they'll be able to sustain a decent stream of customers and grow it. Chatham deserves a new business that can succeed. The South Side could use more coffee shops (outside Hyde Park and Bridgeport.) But most importantly, the Turners have a good thing going. Just hearing Olga talk about it, I could tell that they worked hard to make it happen.
It would be a damn shame if all their hard work was for nothing.
I plan to return in a month or two, just to see how things are going. And maybe try some their coffee.
Until next time, Flecks Coffee. Until next time.
So when DNAinfo reported that a new coffee shop opened in Chatham - and it was going to have a grand opening soon - I knew that I had to check it out.
The grand opening of Flecks Coffee took place last Saturday. In the ideal world, I would have been able to do this post that very day, but I was pretty busy last weekend, so I had no choice but to postpone it until now.
I've been to Chatham a couple of times before, so I had a pretty good general idea of where it was supposed to be. But I wrote down the address just in case.
As it turned out, I needn't have bothered. Because, soon after I got off the bus, I heard loud music. And I got closer, I realized that it wasn't the kind of opening where the owners just put up a banner - or no. It was a freaking mini block party.
Complete with a DJ and everything
And as I looked around, I noticed that several local entrepreneurs set up tables to advertise the businesses. Which, when you think about, makes a lot of sense. Businesses in Chatham tend to work together. And so long as there was this big opening, why not help them out? It's a "rising tide lifts all boats" sort of thing.
Rhonda Young, a long-time Chatham resident, operates SendOutCards - a website where you can customize greeting cards online, have them printed and sent out. She showed some samples at her table.
Trudy Martin was selling a Pikbox - a plastic case for floss toothpicks. It's one of those things that doesn't seem particularly innovative - until you realize that she was one of the first people who thought of it. And that was in 2010. So, really, it's kind of impressive. And useful. More power to her.
And a bit further from the curb, social worker Tracy Wilson was advertising her self-published inspirational/advice book - God, Walk Me Through This.
But not everybody actually sold their stuff in person. Some seemed to have just left a table.
After I looked around the tables, I was ready to do what I actually came there for - visit the Flecks Coffee.
And I was pretty impressed
The design was great. I was hoping to order coffee, but with the weather being in the 90s, I had to order iced tea. I'm not a big fan of iced tea in general, to be honest, but it was good. And the cookies were delectable.
Flecks Coffee offers coffee brewed from coffee beans imported from various African countries. If the weather wasn't smoldering, I would've loved to try them.
The entire cafe had a pretty good design. Here is another, larger shot of the ordering area
The menu
And he eastern wall
Incidentally, in another "rising tide lifts all boats" moment, a local massage therapist was offering free massages inside the cafe. I didn't get a decent picture, unfortunately.
Another touch I liked was that, like any good cafe, it was promoting local events. There were plenty of flyers by the window and posted on the window itself. Oh, and they had copies of Uptown, an upscale African-American magazine.
Coffee shops tend to carry issues of local community newspapers, so it was nice to see copies of Chicago Independent Bulletin stacked by the door. To be honest, I thought Chicago Citizen would've been a better choice (it is a Chatham-based community newspaper), but that's just me.
In the end of the day, what I liked the most was the atmosphere. The genuine sense of joy the pervaded the place. Co-owner Zali Turner manned the counter, and she responded to all orders with a smile and courtesy. If a customer wasn't sure what to order, she did her best to help them narrow down the options. Her mother (and fellow co-owner) Olga Turner was always on the move, greeting customers, asking how they were doing, what they thought and seemed to positively glow at the sheer joy of seeing so many people enjoying themselves.
It would be interesting to see what happens to Flecks Coffee once the hype dies down a bit. I hope that they'll be able to sustain a decent stream of customers and grow it. Chatham deserves a new business that can succeed. The South Side could use more coffee shops (outside Hyde Park and Bridgeport.) But most importantly, the Turners have a good thing going. Just hearing Olga talk about it, I could tell that they worked hard to make it happen.
It would be a damn shame if all their hard work was for nothing.
I plan to return in a month or two, just to see how things are going. And maybe try some their coffee.
Until next time, Flecks Coffee. Until next time.