Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Saxbys brews up student-run coffee shop near WCU campus
WEST CHESTER » There’s a new place for West Chester University students to get their daily java jolt, a coffee shop completely run and managed by students.
Saxbys held a grand opening Monday at their newest location, at 701 S. High Street, at the old site of the Ratskeller, and across the street from the West Chester University campus.
Forty-five students will run the coffee café and earn a paycheck while earning classroom credits.
Kelly Ingram, student cafe executive officer, will gain 12 credits while managing the airy and spacious coffee shop.
She hadn’t been a coffee drinker until starting work at the University of Delaware Saxbys location. She was thankful for the “hands-on experience.”
“It’s a good way to meet new faces around campus,” said the former Quakertown resident, now living in the borough.
Chad Cohen is the café operating officer and a marketing student.
“This is an experience like no other,” said the 20-year-old Cohen.
Cohen is getting the word out through the media and coupon handouts “to let the students know we are here.”
He said he likes the way the company puts the business in the students’ hands.
“They give you full control to lose or make money,” Cohen said about Saxbys, with a smile. “It’s all on you.
“If you don’t schedule enough staff, it’s your problem. It’s easy to relate when the boss is your age.”
West Chester University President Chris Fiorentino is thankful that Saxbys chose the borough. Currently five experimental learning programs are located on or near Pennsylvania university campuses at Drexel, Millersville, Temple, La Salle and WCU.
“WCU is quite pleased to be able to collaborate with such a visionary company in order to help students directly apply what they are currently learning in the classroom to a professional setting,” Fiorentino said. “By using critical thinking skills, problemsolving, effective communication, and team-building, West Chester University students working in the new experimental learning cafe will be able to tackle a variety of work situations upon graduation.”
Saxbys owner and founder Nick Bayer was enjoying a drink on Monday called “The Cure,” which was prepared by a student.
The drink is comprised of half espresso (for bitterness) and half coconut water (for sweetness). He said that the drink is “hydration and caffeination in a very refreshing manner.”
The founder said that the café doesn’t attract only business major staffers.
“You don’t need to be a business student,” he said. “We believe that the skill sets you get from running a business like this are transferable to literally anything you would do after college – it’s not about making the next generation of coffee entrepreneurs.”
Bayer, an adjunct college professor, said that students, while managing and leading at the business founded in 2005, gain an emotional intelligence, critical thinking and cultural agility, or ability to deal with people who are different.