Evergreen Coffee owner Laura Eaton takes payment from a customer. Eaton opened the mobile stand off Sunset Highway across from Kalispel Chevron on Sept. 1.
AIRWAY HEIGHTS-Off Sunset Highway across from the Kalispel Chevron lies a new mobile coffee stand run by a first-time business owner who taught herself barista skills by watching videos on YouTube.
28-year-old Laura Eaton owns and runs Evergreen Coffee, a start-up business she decided to begin after getting her certificate for baking pastries at Spokane Community College. Evergreen opened for business Sept. 1.
"I've always loved making stuff," Eaton said. "It's been a couple years in (my) mind; not necessarily starting up a mobile coffee stand, but starting up something in general."
Eaton bought a small food cart and renovated it into a coffee stand.
"I ripped out the deep fryer, and it used to this huge window, so I had to fix that," Eaton said. "It was quite a bit. It was about six months-worth of work."
Eaton had never worked for a coffee stand or shop before starting Evergreen Coffee.
"It was definitely a learning curve," Eaton said. "I feel like I'm still learning."
She taught herself barista skills through practicing and consuming YouTube videos during the six-month process of renovating her trailer.
The evergreen-colored stand with the word "coffee" displayed vertically in laminated print to the left of the window shares the gravel parking lot with Stimson Construction, where business members often double as some of Eaton's regular customers.
"I went in there and I talked to them about (opening a stand in the parking lot), and they were okay with it," Eaton said. "They come through quite a bit. It's very convenient for them."
Eaton runs Evergreen Coffee solo, save for occasional help from her sister, Montana.
Business has been steadily growing in the two-plus months the stand has been opened. Eaton estimates she gets roughly three to four customers an hour during busier times, but earlier in the morning between 10 a.m. and noon it gets slower.
"It's kind of give or take," Eaton said.
She chose the Airway Heights location when she noticed there weren't many coffee stands in the city, compared to a bevy of brew options in Spokane.
"I didn't want to step on anybody's toes, and I noticed there weren't too many coffee stands out here," Eaton said. "It's a very busy road."
She said she's wanted to open up a business in the Spokane area for a while.
"I've always kind of liked it here," Eaton said. "I get a lot of military (customers), that's for sure. And then a bunch of regular, everyday people, really."
Presently, the most popular item on the menu is a caramel apple latte.
"That is very popular, and it is very good," Eaton said. "I actually really like lotuses, like the red lotus with cucumber and lime."
Other items on the menu include various coffee drinks, hot chocolate, steamers and Italian sodas.
Eaton has attempted to market her business through Facebook and Instagram, and word of mouth. She hopes to grow her business to 10 customers an hour.
"It is very small, so it's hard sometimes to keep up when I have a lot of customers," Eaton said. "It's pretty small in here, so what I have is limited."
She wants to work to a point when she can eventually have a permanent stand. She likes her present location as a possibility of a permanent stand, but that will be dependent on future circumstances.
Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.
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