ROOFTOP COFFEE SHOP OPENS IN DOWNTOWN CHICO
CHICO >> When Stoble Coffee and Workplace owners Matt and Lauren Thiede moved to Chico in 2011, the two wanted to create a communal hub. Matt Thiede, a Chico State civil engineering graduate, wanted to have a business centered around the community. Together he and his wife wanted to be a part of how they envisioned the potential for downtown Chico.
That idea began in 2017 when construction on the brick building located at 418 Broadway in downtown Chico began.
After operating a coffee cart since June 2019, on Jan. 23, Matt, his wife Lauren and their business partners Matt and Natalie Johnston opened Stoble for take out only, relying on customers to pick up purchases outside of the cafe’s doors. On March 24 the shop opened to the public for dine-in and
Matt Thiede said since the opening “it has kind of been bananas.”
Matt Thiede said that the shop did not announce it would be open for dine-in, and instead opened slowly to see how things would go. Word spread fast and by 10 a.m. opening day Thiede said it was nearly full.
“I don’t know how much of this is just because we’re new, because COVID is lightening up and everyone wants to get outside or what,” Thiede said. “Who knows how it’ll stay, but right now it is doing pretty good.”
Thiede said the shop opens at 7 a.m. each day and by 8:30 a.m. most days most of the shop has been full until closing at 2 p.m.
However, Thiede and his partners’ future plans for Stoble extend further than the current 2 p.m. closing time.
Stoble features a rooftop patio in downtown Chico, which Thiede says is consistently the most full portion of the three-floor cafe. The rooftop features trellises which make it waterproof when needed for guests.
“That’s definitely everyone’s favorite. No matter what it is almost always full,” Thiede said. “Even if it looks kind of slow down here, it’s full up there. Everybody wants to be on the roof especially now with gorgeous weather.”
On the second floor it features tables that overlook Chico’s downtown and City Plaza. Both floors are wheelchair accessible as both stairs and an elevator are installed.
Slowdowns from the Camp Fire in 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 have slowed down the cafe’s plans of being open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
While the cafe currently serves coffee, breakfast, brunch items and pastries, a full dinner menu is planned to be put into place as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, Thiede said.
The evolution of a coffee shop being open 15 hours each day did not come overnight. Thiede said that as the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred, and even before, coffee shops are becoming the new workspace for many people. He and his partners saw the coffee shop’s ability to expand to accommodate those working from home and needing work spaces.
Private offices, conference rooms, open work spaces, phone booths, collaboration rooms and a private co-working lounge are all integrated into the backside of Stoble. Thiede said that he anticipates the spaces being rented out either month- to- month, by the year or potentially daily. There is also space in a conference room which Thiede said could be rented out hourly.
He said that in two weeks employees will begin
After putting a design in a drink, barista Mattie Hinkley serves it up Wednesday at Stoble Coffee and Workplace.
giving tours to potential remote workers, small businesses or students who
wish to rent out a space. Thiede added he has a list of people who are interested and is waiting on final construction to finish in the lounge area.
Once the space is ready to be rented out, Thiede hopes to collaborate with Chico State’s entrepreneurship program.
“In particular programs, especially if this is going to be a co-working space, it felt cool to have a way that students could kind of rub shoulders on a professional level,” he said.
The values for Stoble from the start have been community, transparency, creativity and progress. Thiede said he thankful for his entire staff of whom he said his vision would not have worked out if even one member was not a part of the opening. He is also thankful for members of the community who have helped furnish parts of the cafe including Bidwell Wood Company which helped make the tables, as well as Alex Marshall Studios which made many of the cups and mugs used.
“That’s just something that I feel like everybody has seemed to embody. So we all kind of share that,” Thiede said about the values. “So there’s a really cool camaraderie between our whole team, and to me that’s kind of the magic to getting it to work the way it has so far. So hopefully we can maintain that in the upcoming years.”
If anyone is looking for Thiede’s favorite food or drink suggestion on the menu currently, he suggests Stoble’s açaí bowl and a nitro brewed coffee.