Caffeine is Good! Ocracoke Institution Changes Hands

The coffee shop is, hands down, the most popular spot on the island to start the day, exchange worthy news and gossip, puzzle over crosswords, and observe the comings and goings of Ocracoke life.

Founded in 1996, Ocracoke Coffee Co. soon became an iconic Ocracoke mainstay.  It turns out that caffeine is not only good, it's good for bringing people together.  In the past 15 years many friendships have been made and solidified on the porch, deck and lawn of "the coffee shop," as it is locally known.

Original owners Jacqui and Garick Kalna are leaving "with mixed emotions," said Jacqui.  "We're not ready to be done, but we're ready to do something different."  Justin and Joelle Leblanc bought the business earlier this year, and the new and old owners have been working together to make structural improvements and get the coffee shop ready for the 2012 season.

"I love this place," said Jacqui, "I think Justin and Joelle will have a great time.  I think they'll love this place."  The business was never listed for sale because they wanted to be confident they'd find the right new owners, she added.

Justin and Joelle are energetic and clear-headed about their new endeavor.  Both will welcome customers from behind the counter and learn from Jacqui and Garick's experienced crew.   They envision a "very smooth transition" and have no plans to mess with success.   Joelle said, tongue firmly in cheek, that they have been "gently advised" by many locals that big changes aren't wanted.

The menu will eventually expand to include more healthy options, both savory and sweet, and they hope to be open longer during the year, said Joelle.  Justin would like to add "something with bacon."

The bleary-eyed need not fear:  "The local pot will not disappear," said Justin.  They are also looking into ways to streamline the waiting time for tourists who just want a cuppa. Those who crave a bagel, a smoothie and a latte must await their turn in the genial line.

Joelle said she and Justin "followed the same path as many people" who have come to call Ocracoke home.  They began visiting 16 or 17 years ago and "came down every chance we got." "One week [of vacation] becomes three weeks, plus a week at Christmas.   Then we started looking at property," said Joelle. They bought at the height of the market, and rented their new home weekly for two years.

An elementary educator, Joelle began living here when she was not teaching in the Washington, DC area.  "At the end of summers I didn't want to go back," she said.

A year ago both made the full time commitment to life on Ocracoke Island.  Justin kept his day job with "a government relations consulting firm."  Say what?  "I'm a lobbyist," he kindly explained.  He primarily represents the interests of commercial fisherman from Seattle, and cleverly maintains a cell phone with a DC area code as his work number.

Jacqui and Garick took different paths, which crossed, and grew starry-eyed, on Ocracoke.

In the summer of 1994, both spent their first summers on Ocracoke working at Howard's Pub; Jacqui waited tables and Garick prepared food.  (I was also in the Pub kitchen that season, washing dishes--my first job ever with a college degree.  The great dishwasher perk was proximal control of the cassette player; Garick backed me up when I chose John Prine, to the dismay of others.)

They didn't develop enough of a friendship to keep in touch.  Jacqui went to Los Angelos, and Garick spent the winter in Colorado.  Both continued thinking of Ocracoke and returned with visions of opening a business on the island.

As Jacqui tells it, she was relaxing on the beach with 1990s summer stalwarts Monica Corcoran and Sara Chauhan when Garick ambled up to say hi, and announced his intention to open a coffee shop.  Monica nudged Jacqui and said, that's what you were going to do.

Garick said both he and Jacqui "independently had the idea of opening a coffee shop.  There was no way to have two coffee shops on Ocracoke, so we decided to be business partners." 

They spent the fall of 1995 planning, and artist Barbara Spencer pointed them in the direction of the historic Monford and Iva Garrish home, which was then being used as gallery and studio space for local artists.  They first rented the front corner room from Charlie Bond, who held the lease, and opened Ocracoke Coffee Co. in spring 1996.

During the first few years, the other rooms of Monk and Iva's home, a 1930s bungalow, continued to be used as artist studios, for painter Russell Yerkes, potter Amy Smith, and metal workers Roger and Kim Meacham.  

Kim France, and Garick's brother Mike were the first employees.  Kim's signature smoothie, the Kimba, is still on the menu.  Ocracoke Coffee Co. was an instant hit.

Since opening, rarely a day has passed that John Ivey Wells doesn't enjoy his morning jolt at Ocracoke Coffee Co.  When he knows he won't show up, or if he doesn't appear at the opening hour, "phone calls are made," said Jacqui.  If Van O'Neal or Michael O'Neal fail to come in--which they never do--she'd worry about them, too.

Friendship and partnership grew into romance, and Jacqui and Garick were married on the island in 1997.  They bought Monk and Iva's property in 1998.  Their sons, Dalton and Macky, have grown up with the coffee shop as a second home, and the dedicated, fun-loving staff as a motley extended family.

Last year Ocracoke Coffee Co. employed about a dozen people.  "We've always been lucky to have the greatest groups of people who fit here as co-workers," said Jacqui.

Garick fondly remembers the many floats built by coffee shop crews to celebrate the fourth of July.  The fiascoes are too numerous to mention, he said, grinning.

Other good times?  The legendary end-of-season parties, when the smoothies are fortified.  "The employee parties start off as closed and end as community gatherings," said Jacqui.  "It's the best way to say thank you to wonderful help and the wonderful people who visit us every day," said Garick.

Garick, Jacqui, Dalton and Macky are moving to Aspen, Colorado before the next school year starts.  Jacqui and Garick listen to each other, and finish one another's thoughts.   "It was always the plan to spend winters in Colorado," said Jacqui (or Garick), but "the kids showed up," said Garick (or Jacqui). 

Garick looks forward to attending brewing school, and both are fully aware of the "excellent snow" in Aspen.  The schools are excellent too, said Garick. 

They are excited to live in a new landscape, and expose their children to a new environment, but are not giving up their Ocracoke home.  "A year in Colorado will tell us a lot," said Jacqui.

Garick said his "pipe dream" was always to have a brewery of his own, and he is leaving it wide open.  "Where?  Maybe here,"  he said.

Both know that once you have been welcomed to call Ocracoke home, Ocracoke will have a home for you.

When asked what advice they would offer Justin and Joelle, Garick and Jacqui answered with one voice:  Treat the locals well.  And have fun.