Help Sleeper Coffee Move to a Forever Home!

Hey Sleepyheads! We are so thankful for your daily presence in our lives & in helping us make this dream a reality!

We are asking for your help to keep this beast chugging along without missing a beat. 

Since we opened our doors a little over a year ago, y’all have continued to show up. It was a hard job patch-working together the corner of 1332 Commercial St into what Sleeper is today. We started out with a high interest loan of $20k to finance our equipment, (which we owe about $14k on, now a year later) another $20k from refinancing our 2016 Battle Prius, plus around $10k in donations from friends & family. The first 7 months of Sleeper were also supplemented with about $500/week through the Self Employment Assistance Program, a government subsidy fund provided by the Oregon Unemployment Department reserved for aspiring entrepreneurs. Without these programs, loans, & generous donations, Sleeper simply would not exist. 

Startup costs for coffee shops in 2023/24 range from $80k-$300k+ (source toasttab.com)

Opening a whole entire coffee shop with only $50k in this economy is absolutely unheard of. We were able to do so by having very humble beginnings, working for free all year, being open every single day, having a strong focus on quality & consistency, & relying heavily on the support of this community. 

We have always considered 1332 Commercial Street a sort of “pop-up” location. The perfect place to start, but we always knew we wouldn't stay. In January 2023 we signed a 6 month trial sublease to get our feet wet, & have been in a month-to-month agreement since June while we kept our eyes peeled for something else.

Since day 1 we have dreamed of finding a place in downtown Astoria that we could call our own. Some place where we can control the atmosphere, the lighting, & the ✨vibes✨.

Our own four walls. 

But we never dreamed a location as ideal as Pier 12 could fall into our laps.

In mid-March we were approached by the owners of Pier 12 & offered a nearly turnkey cafe location (previously a cocktail bar) at a price we almost couldn’t turn down. 

We did, however, initially decline the offer, mainly due to the timing. With summer sneaking up on us quickly, & an awesome new baker just getting off the ground behind us, we thought it would be best to keep waiting. But as we prepared to walk away from this once in a lifetime opportunity, the idea of another coffee shop swiping up that spot made us sick to our stomachs. This place truly feels like everything we’ve always imagined Sleeper would eventually become. 

Our first year as business owners has not been easy to say the least. We were met with numerous hurdles & traumas no one could have prepared us for. 

And yet...this incredible community has inspired us on a daily basis to hold our heads up high & keep going. So we are asking for your help to keep Sleeper forging ahead, evolving into the community-built, all ages, family friendly, reliable third space it was always meant to be. 

This move isn't going to be cheap, & the timing isn’t ideal, but we know from experience that many hands make light work.

We have signed a renewable 3 year lease at Pier 12. 

We are moving in at the end of May!

Our goal is to raise $25,000.

Yeah, that is a lot of money. Here’s what it will be used for (in order of priority):

$5,000 - security deposit on the new space which we have already paid out of our personal “safety net” fund. 

$3,000 estimated for plumbing alterations to suit our needs.

$2,000 estimated for electrical alterations to suit our needs. 

$4,500 for building materials/improvements (countertops, bench seating, shelving, tables, etc). 

$1,500 for Health Department License, Inspection and an architect to help us prepare the submitted plans.

$1,000(+/-) for final bills/utilities at commercial street. 

$750 for GoFundMe processing fees.

$8,000 for 1 month of salary coverage for our entire staff. We are hopeful we will only have to be closed for a maximum of 3 days, but anything could happen & we would be able to breathe a little easier knowing our staff would be taken care of if we run into any snags that could delay our reopening. 

When we moved to Astoria two years ago, we had both come from lifelong backgrounds of working at somebody else’s cafe. We hardly knew anyone here & we had this wild idea to put down roots, create something of our own, work for ourselves, & build a vibrant community around coffee in the prettiest town at the edge of the world. 

In the early days of Sleeper we felt pretty alone, but not for very long at all. Now we get to be part of something that quickly became so much bigger than just us. The journey of Sleeper has been creatively collaborative since the very beginning. We are so honored to be in a community that has welcomed us & our mission: “to have the most fun making coffee while getting to know you.” It has been so much more fulfilling than we ever could have imagined.

Thank you so much for your support, & cheering us on with your kind words. We can't wait to be settled in our forever home serving the Astoria community for decades to come.

We love you.