Back of the Yards Coffeehouse is doing more than serving up drinks
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago business is bringing coffee and community together. Back of the Yards Coffeehouse has quickly become a neighborhood hotspot, and the owner plans to keep it that way.
Locals say it's more than just a café.
Back of the Yards Coffeehouse co-founder Jesse Iniguez started by selling small-batch roasted coffee and cold brew, mostly at farmers markets, in 2016.
"People were asking us where our shop was. So, you know, then it took us a little bit to get the shop going. But once we got it open, we had a line out the door," Iniguez said.
They had a lot of support from the community, crowdsourcing over $17,000 for the opening of their shop.
"I'm from the community, I'm from Back of the Yards, and we've never had a coffee shop here before until we opened up," Iniguez said.
Both the coffee shop, and the high school across the street, are relatively new to the neighborhood, with Iniguez opening his doors in 2017, just four years after Back of the Yards College Prep.
The site at 47th and Hoyne was abandoned for many years.
"Prior to that it was a pub, a bar that not many people — it was a sore spot. And the high school across the street was a junkyard. So this area here just was not the best. So the community was really happy that we transformed it," Iniguez said. "Oftentimes, coffee shops are a sign of the gentrification to come, because many times they're opening for the people that are going to move in, not for the people that are there. And we wanted to do something different."
To focus on serving the community Iniguez said they hire locally.
"All of our employees here are from the community, or the surrounding areas. We pay above minimum wage. We pay over $15 an hour plus tips. Some of them, with tips and everything, are making close to $19 or $20 an hour," he said.
They're also aiming to fill the community's need for jobs, with plans to build a coffee roasting and production facility in Back of the Yards. Already in conversation with the city, the coffee shop is bringing on local Black and Brown architects, contractors, and engineers for the project.
"These are jobs that are living wages, that pay very well, and that are sustainable," Iniguez said.
Iniguez said everything the coffee house does is predicated on serving the community
"Our main mission that we call our seed model stands for social impact, economic development, environmental responsibility, and direct relationships. So everything that we do involves one or all of those pillars," he said. "We give back to the community. A dollar from every bag of coffee that we sell goes gets reinvested into a social impact fund, and from that fund, we give back to two different organizations that promote peace and education."
The shop also offers a full calendar of free events for the community – things like monthly concerts and partnerships with the local Chicago Public Library.
"Aside from not having a coffee shop, period, there's a lack of safe spaces in our community. And so we wanted this to be that community space. We want the community to use it for what it wants and for what it needs," Iniguez said.