Meet Stacy Kliner: Putting that pep in your day

[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text] Colorado Coffee Company has a long history in Northern Colorado. It opened 25 years ago as one of the first coffee shops and roasters in the area. Its first location was in Fort Collins at the Foothills Mall. Stacy remembers going to the mall as a child and the sugary, buttery smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls wafting out the coffee shop’s doors. It’s a familiar scent that she now gets to smell every single day. After Colorado Coffee Company opened its location in Loveland, Stacy purchased the company in June 2016 from her mentor and the previous owner. As a staple in the community, Stacy wanted to preserve the coffee shop’s history. Colorado Coffee Company has always roasted their own coffee and made their own pastries from scratch. When Stacy purchased the business, she also acquired all of the recipes and since the previous owner was a mentor of hers and initially taught her how to roast coffee, she continues to roast their coffee several times a week. But she’s also made a couple of changes to make the business hers. One of the most significant changes was knowing where every item on the menu came from. At Colorado Coffee Company, they make everything from scratch using locally sourced ingredients, with the exception of the coffee. Even though they can’t grow the coffee locally, Stacy still knows where their coffee beans come from. It’s one of the things Stacy loves most: she knows everything about her coffee. Stacy focuses on only using ethically traded coffee, which means she knows the farm where the coffee is grown, who the people growing the coffee are, that the farmers receive a fair wage and most importantly they’re treated well in the transaction. Once Stacy has the beans, it’s back to a local focus for roasting. She strives to provide only the freshest, highest quality and most delicious coffee, so they roast their coffee fresh, in-house. It’s so fresh they don’t sell any coffee roasted more than 10 days ago. And if they’re going to have the freshest coffee, they need to have the freshest pastries. Walk into Colorado Coffee Company pretty much any time of day and you’ll smell fresh pastries, most likely cinnamon rolls. The kitchen at the shop is relatively small; they run the entire baking operation out of one convection oven. To keep up with demand, especially cinnamon roll demand, they bake those heavenly rolls all morning, every day. Speaking of cinnamon rolls, that’s another change Stacy made. She made the cinnamon rolls bigger. Yes, bigger. Stacy knows from experience there’s nothing better than the smell of warm cinnamon, butter and frosting wafting out the front door, and when guests walk in, she wants those rolls to look as impressive as they smell. Fortunately for you, because their oven is small and they bake all day, you’re almost guaranteed to walk into Colorado Coffee Company and be greeted by a freshly baked roll of joy. Is your mouth watering yet? Everything Stacy does at her coffee shop is a labor of love. But she’s the first to admit she doesn’t do it alone. She works with a small, close-knit team of five. One of those five is her mom, who you’ll often find baking those famous cinnamon rolls. You’ll also see Stacy’s 7-year-old daughter, Molly, every day after school. Molly is usually working the cash register or the drive-thru (because she loves to wear the headset) or she’s helping grandma bake. Like mother like daughter, coffee is Molly’s world. She doesn’t like the taste right now, but give it time. From the beginning, Stacy wanted her business to be family-owned and operated. Even the staff who aren’t blood relations, feel like family to Stacy. And her customers are family too. It’s one of the things that makes Colorado Coffee Company more than just the place you grab your morning cup of coffee; it’s where you go to hang out with family and friends. Stacy and her staff know all of their customers by name, they almost become part of their customers’ lives. She knows when her customers are expecting their first kids, when their loved ones pass away or when someone is on a first date. She knows the couple that comes in twice a day, every day when they take their grandsons to schools; the gentlemen who are there every morning at 9 a.m.; the man who invites all of his Facebook friends to get a cup of coffee with him once a month; the two women whose kids were in the same class 20 years ago and finally met up at Colorado Coffee Company for their first meeting in two decades. Every day she gets to hear everyone’s story as they start their day and build a relationship with them. It’s probably Stacy’s favorite part of owning a coffee shop and having it located in Centerra. Centerra is home to Stacy. Her family and her husband’s family are still in the area. Stacy was born in Loveland; her daughter was even born in the same hospital. She and her family live outside of Centerra, but Stacy likes to say they live in Centerra, they just sleep on the other side of town. Her community is in Centerra with her coffee family and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Stacy has spent the last year trying to get to know everyone but now she’s ready to get even more involved in the community and give back. Stacy loves getting involved in Centerra events like the tree lighting in the neighborhood behind them where they provided hot chocolate and coffee to everyone who came out. She also really enjoys doing things longer-term like giving a discount to the teachers and staff at High Plains School, where her daughter attends school. As Centerra continues to grow, Stacy is looking forward to more events and opportunities to make her impact on the community. But first, she’s looking to expand her own business. Colorado Coffee Company is growing rapidly. Even on a Tuesday morning, which isn’t even their busiest day, almost every seat in the coffee shop is taken. Stacy adores her current space, it’s unique, the location is excellent and overall it has worked out well for them. Her goal is to duplicate what she has now. It’s just a matter of when and how. Stacy’s only requirement? It has to be in Centerra.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]