Hidden Gems: Meet Keith & Alaina Schwartz of Caliber Coffee Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith & Alaina Schwartz.

Hi Keith & Alaina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Caliber Coffee Co. started as our dream and desire to make a positive impact in the lives of the people in our community and to set an example for our kids. As a restaurant manager and a public school teacher, we started Caliber Coffee Co. without investors or a trust fund- just the belief that with hard work and determination, we could follow that American dream that brought our parents to this country. We purchased our initial equipment second-hand from another coffee shop that was closing its doors and found an old KFC building that was just around the corner from our home. We did as much remodeling that we could to the building ourselves and with the help of generous friends, and left the remainder to the experts. We demolished floors, built walls, painted interior and exterior- all while still working full-time and raising a 2 and 4 -year-old. When we first opened our doors, we expected to see less than 100 people a day and that we could run Caliber with just the two of us. We quickly realized that we underestimated how many people would make Caliber their coffee home and began hiring and growing our Caliber family. At the core of our little family business, is our drive to consistently engage and edify the people of our community. Yes, we sell coffee- but what drives us is our sincere hope that our community feels welcomed and finds the intangible here: safety, community, love, and acceptance. We hope that we are able to uplift and edify the hearts and souls of our community. Our name is a big part of our vision: Caliber, the quality of a person’s character. We want to always be looking at the things we can’t see: a person’s character and heart, not the clothes we wear or our outward appearance. Our Shot of Grace board is a small part of that: we have coffee sleeves that the people in our community have already purchased that are available for anyone. Just bring the sleeve up to the counter and we’ll fill that sleeve with your favorite Caliber drink- all paid for by other person in our community. We’ve been so blessed to be able to support sports teams, band programs, churches, organizations, and families that are the life of our community. We are constantly telling our children that the most important thing in life is people: how we talk to others, how we care, empathize, and uplift people is always the most important thing in life. Our Caliber Family has now grown to over 20, we’re selling almost 300 lbs of coffee a week, and we see an average of 1500 people each day come through our doors. We’ve paid off all of our debt from opening Caliber and we’re seeing so much growth in our business. We’re still working about 90 hours a week each and Alaina is also still a public school teacher. Our kids are growing and learning- you’ll see them behind the counter asking for chocolate milk after school. However, we are reminding ourselves constantly of this: if Caliber were to close tomorrow- we’d know that we fulfilled the dream we set out to do: create a positive impact in the lives and hearts of the people our community- and sell a bit of coffee too!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s that saying: it’s the rocky roads, not the smooth roads, that lead to the highest peaks. The March 2020 tornado that hit our neighborhood impacted our family and our community immensely. Our community was just devastated. Our children’s school was destroyed. Our employees were still coming in to work, even while they didn’t have power at their home for over a week. Our neighbors were coming in to Caliber just to charge phones & laptops and to call loved to reassure them that they were alive and well. This rocky road moment led to an outpouring of love as our community both near and far began to purchase cups of coffee for others. We had hundreds of cups from people all of over the US that prepaid for coffee for the people of our community that were impacted and the first responders that did so much. Here’s a video made by Samaritan’s Purse that highlights this moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBPRDvq9Cuo I think all small business owners will agree with us that the pandemic was a huge struggle that we are all still recovering from financially, emotionally, and maybe even physically. It was heart wrenching to tell our community that our tables had to remain closed and that we could only offer to-go items. It was devastating to tell our Caliber Family that we had to cut hours. It was so difficult to see each of our Caliber family members struggle with continuing life as normal while experiencing so much change.

Our biggest struggle as a small family business, is being consistent at maintaining focus on the health and balance of our marriage and family, As a family business, without our family, the business wouldn’t happen. Each day, we are sure to set aside time to eat together as a family, talk as a family without distractions, and be intentional with our time, energy, and focus with our relationship and as parents.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Caliber Coffee Co.?
Caliber Coffee Co. is a specialty coffee shop that also offers all-day breakfast, sandwiches, and salads made to order. We offer classic espresso drinks as well as fun, seasonal drinks including smoothies, frappes, and boba. Our organic, direct-trade coffee is roasted weekly and we offer a variety of regions, roasts, and flavors. Our most popular drink is our Butterbeer Latte with flavors of English Toffee & Butterscotch. We are truly a local, family-owned and operated coffee shop. We are blessed as a family business to be able to live, work, and play in our neighborhood and community. We believe that our intentional focus and investment in our community is what sets us apart. We know most of our neighbors by name and have been blessed to share with our community joys and struggles. We have awesome coffee and we have awesome people.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
As an independent, specialty coffee shop there will always be a struggle to maintain the same level of automation that national, big-chain coffee shops have while still offering quality drinks crafted by hand. As the coffee industry moves towards more automation, more mobile or online transactions, we strive to create and maintain personal engagements with our community. While we still offer online, mobile ordering, and delivery through 3rd parties like UberEats, if you pull through up to our service window or come through our doors, you’ll be sure to be greeted by a smiling face as you place your order. Our friendly baristas will chat with you as we make your drinks or bring your breakfast to you! It’s always about people!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: calibercoffeeco.com
• Instagram: @calibercoffeeco
• Facebook: @calibercoffeeco

Image Credits
Keith & Alaina Schwartz