Ten Years of Old World Coffee Roasters
Ten years ago, Old World Coffee Roasters did not exist. There was a former shoe store in Reno, a 22-year-old with an IT job and a love for good coffee, and a lot of uncertainty about whether any of it would work.
This year, we are celebrating a decade. We sat down to tell the story of how we got here, in our own words. Grab a cup and watch below.
Where It Started
Chris was 22 and working in IT. He and his friends would travel, and everywhere they went, they would seek out the local coffee shop. Somewhere along the way, they fell in love with the whole thing: the feel of a good cafe and the taste of high quality coffee done right.
They did not know much about coffee yet. What they knew was that they wanted to bring that experience home to Reno. It started with catering, figuring it out as they went, a little janky at first by Chris's own admission. But the goal was clear from day one: serve high quality espresso and high quality coffee, and never compromise on that.
A Big City Experience, Built by Locals
Chris had a picture in his head of what a big city coffee shop looked like, and he wanted to bring that level of quality and experience to Reno. But he never wanted to be a big city coffee shop. The vision was something more grounded: a shop run by two locals in northern Nevada, and their son. That is still who we are.
The Shoe Store That Became a Coffee Shop
The first space was not much to look at. It was a former shoe store, bright colors, shelves on the walls, not very big. But Chris looked at it and thought, I can make this into a coffee shop.
What followed was fast and furious. Friends helped paint. Chris and his dad built all the cabinets and did the countertops themselves. A friend handled the tile. They brought in a contractor for the electrical and plumbing, but nearly everything else, they built with their own hands to get the doors open.
Opening Day
May 22, 2015. Memorial Day weekend. Our grand opening.
It was crazy. We had never run a line before, and that first day the line was out the door for hours. It set the tone for the couple of years that followed.
The Part Nobody Sees
Ten years sounds tidy from the outside. It was not. There were stretches where we were financially strapped, where things were not progressing the way we hoped, where staying open at all was a struggle.
The turning point came when the business had to take on Ashley as an employee too. Old World now had to support both of them and their family. It felt like jumping in feet first. It felt like a gamble, and it felt scary. But it became a pivotal moment, because it simply had to work. So we made it work.
Ten Years Later
Looking back, ten years feels like a huge accomplishment. The business has been through a lot, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of trials, a lot of moments where we were not sure we would make it this far. We did, and that is thanks in no small part to the community that has slowed down and shared a cup with us along the way.
Come Celebrate With Us
We are marking ten years with a block party, and you are invited. Join us on May 24 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at our Northwest location. It is going to be a good one.
And all Memorial Day weekend, we are doing Bring a Friend to Coffee: buy one, get one free on every drink, at all of our locations. Bring someone who has never been. Bring someone who has been with us since the shoe store days. Either way, the coffee is on us for the second cup.
Here is to the next ten years.
Slow Down, Drink Up.
