Help Jim & Patty's Coffee Survive
Donation protected
We were just kids when we first started selling coffee at Saturday Market in Eugene in 1974. Then with a $3000 loan from Patty’s dad we opened Coffee Man in NW Portland in 1976. Coffee Man turned into Coffee People in 1983. We left Coffee People in 1998 and started Jim and Patty’s Coffee in 2002. Our steady goal over the last forty years has been to find and create places where people could come together and enjoy great coffee in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect. We called it Good Coffee, No Backtalk.
We’ve had lots of ups and downs over the years. But 2020 is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. We first felt the slowdown in March. But with some funding help, strong commitment from our staff and customers, and patience from our vendors, we began to bounce back. Even though business did slowly increase through October we never got back to where we’d been the previous years. Meanwhile operating costs increased. Now with emergency restrictions we’re losing ground again. We’ve made the painful decision to close one of our four stores. Ironically it was in NW Portland, our historic home.
We’ve negotiated with vendors and landlords and reduced other expenses where possible, We keep looking for ways to improve our products and services (online ordering coming soon.) We owners are not on the payroll. Our goal now is to survive as a company and keep our other three stores open and our great staff employed until we can all be together again.
Today among our 60 employees you’ll find all three of our children and one grandchild, carrying on for J & P’s. Our relationship with Portland is personal. When our son died back in 2006 the neighborhood covered the front of our store with flowers. Then they came together to run our store for us, to allow us to stay home while we grieved. There, at our lowest point, the little shop survived only because of our community’s help. No matter what the future brings we have been cared for by you, and we’ll be forever grateful.
Your support will be help us pay bills and keep the lights on. We know businesses all over are struggling. In the coming weeks and months many treasured restaurants will be lost forever. It humbles us to ask for your help. We will do all we can to make the best possible use of it. We want to be there when better times return to welcome you back.
-Jim and Patty
We’ve had lots of ups and downs over the years. But 2020 is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. We first felt the slowdown in March. But with some funding help, strong commitment from our staff and customers, and patience from our vendors, we began to bounce back. Even though business did slowly increase through October we never got back to where we’d been the previous years. Meanwhile operating costs increased. Now with emergency restrictions we’re losing ground again. We’ve made the painful decision to close one of our four stores. Ironically it was in NW Portland, our historic home.
We’ve negotiated with vendors and landlords and reduced other expenses where possible, We keep looking for ways to improve our products and services (online ordering coming soon.) We owners are not on the payroll. Our goal now is to survive as a company and keep our other three stores open and our great staff employed until we can all be together again.
Today among our 60 employees you’ll find all three of our children and one grandchild, carrying on for J & P’s. Our relationship with Portland is personal. When our son died back in 2006 the neighborhood covered the front of our store with flowers. Then they came together to run our store for us, to allow us to stay home while we grieved. There, at our lowest point, the little shop survived only because of our community’s help. No matter what the future brings we have been cared for by you, and we’ll be forever grateful.
Your support will be help us pay bills and keep the lights on. We know businesses all over are struggling. In the coming weeks and months many treasured restaurants will be lost forever. It humbles us to ask for your help. We will do all we can to make the best possible use of it. We want to be there when better times return to welcome you back.
-Jim and Patty
Organizer and beneficiary
Jim Roberts
Organizer
Beaverton, OR
Patty Case Roberts
Beneficiary