We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Harris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about spending on the little things / small joys when finances are tight?

How to budget and spend money during lean times is still applicable to us now. This entire first year so far has been a lean time, with expenses exceeding sales. Not to mention all of the renovation and start-up debts. We also had a few setbacks early on, with a faulty refrigerator that needed to be replaced and our secondhand oven that won’t stay preheated. It’s not in our budget to replace that one still, so we make do with it for now. I could go on with the problems and repairs: a countertop slab that fell off, electrical issues with the dishwasher, a burst pipe at one of the sinks, a clogged grouphead in our first days, plus a few building-wide power failures.
It’s hard to stay optimistic in the midst of constant problems, but so far, we are forging ahead. The whole process of starting a new business has taught me so much, and I have definitely gotten better at budgeting for staffing and inventory. We still have a long way to go, but I’m hopeful for how things will continue to evolve and improve.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Crema Coffeehouse opened next to Forest Park in St. Louis in December 2023. Our main focus is on the coffee bar, with really smooth espresso drinks plus teas, including chai and matcha. We fill a pastry case with fresh baked goods, all made from scratch in house, from muffins and cookies to individual-sized gooey butter cakes and seasonal variations on our cinnamon rolls. Our food is also made to order, with the breakfast sandwich being the most popular. We serve a variety of other breakfast staples and lunch sandwiches all day as well.
Some other unique things about Crema are that we are completely nut-free, almost zero waste thanks to composting, and our location is only a one block walk into Forest Park. We created a gooey butter cake latte flavor to support STL, and our love for the city really came through in our logo: a steam arch coming right out of the mug!

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

We are trying to expand our offerings from just coffee shop by day to a social gathering space by night (or after 3pm). We have started this by hosting some paint nights with a local artist. She provides all of the supplies, and Crema provides the ambiance and amenities. We also rent the space out occasionally to small parties like baby showers and bridal showers. There has been interest in holding an open mic night since we opened, but it’s just a matter of planning and promotion to local musicians.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

In an effort to keep loyal customers, we subscribe to a loyalty program through our POS. It works great to link phone numbers to payments and track points as they accrue. We also started sending out a quarterly email newsletter to everyone who has subscribed through our website or loyalty program. It helps remind people we’re here and gives them a reason to come back based on our new seasonal flavors or events.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cremacoffeestl.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crema_stl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551998052382
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/crema-coffeehouse-saint-louis

Image Credits

Rolf Ringwald, Nick & Rylee Fitzgerald