Spring Break
Catalyst Coffee reopens for business
Kelli Pryor
Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Verve
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The building was packed wall-to-wall with patrons eager to sample the fare, from specialty coffee drinks like the Velveteen Rabbit to imported hard-to-find beer. Local folkies Finders and Youngberg were commanding attention on the bar's stage, while people occupied every couch, table and chair the coffee side had, playing scrabble, or just sipping coffee and chatting.
Though the mood was cheery, the message scrawled across the white board at the front door was a constant reminder to all that this space, this community would be coming to an end in a few short days.
Pressed by hard economic times, Catalyst had announced a week earlier it would have to close its doors for good, leaving many people without their favorite coffee spot or place to listen to live music. But before closing, Fade Wall, the shop's owner, and all of her employees decided they wanted to make one last go at keeping Catalyst alive.
"I was expecting the sinking ship syndrome where everyone would want to bail," Wall said, "but instead every single person wanted to see this through."
One Last Chance
Giving it one last effort, Wall and her employees utilized every resource they had at their disposal by organizing a donation drive via Facebook, hosting live music and putting together a silent auction with all the proceeds going to hopefully save the business or at least pay back the debt to the shop's local vendors.
Remarkably, all their hard work paid off. In a time when "going out of business" signs litter every street corner, Catalyst announced they had raised enough money, close to $20,000, to keep their doors open for business. Wall gave props to what she calls her employee "family" and her community for keeping her dream alive.
"People used their own talents to help the business," she said. "I got calls from people saying 'I don't have money, but where can I be of service to you?'"
At the silent auction, this mentality was shown by people donating everything from handmade jewelry to laptops to bicycles to art that was created specifically for the auction.
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