Cafes for moms and tots.
Java shops tap into growing market of young parents
It’s noon on a bright, cold Friday and the lineup is deep at a southwest Edmonton cafe where baristas race to fill orders for designer coffees and grilled paninis.
Deanna Nielsen and Emma Kolskog wait at a nearby table for their meals. Casually dressed, they could be two young women meeting for lunch at any city eatery. But with four kids in tow, ranging in age from nine months to four years, they might not feel as comfortable among the office crowd at a Second Cup.
So, every Friday they pack the kids into the car and head to Cafe O’Play, a gourmet coffeehouse in Riverbend that — as its name suggests — caters as much to pint-sized patrons as it does to the adults who accompany them.
As a matter of fact, one could argue that parents are only along for the ride in this establishment where organized chaos reigns.
On this day, the large, open play area spills over with toddlers manoeuvring push cars around a mini race track, playing princess in a pink castle and doing their best impersonation of Darwin the Ikea monkey on the small climbing structure.
The payoff for mom or dad is simple: They get to do what most people without kids take for granted: Enjoy an uninterrupted conversation over a cup of coffee.
“We can come and sit and drink our coffee and talk with other moms and still be able to see our kids,” says Nielsen, sitting in the coffeehouse, adjacent to the play area.
Kolskog enjoys the adult vibe of the cafe with its dark wood bistro tables and walls covered in local artwork.
“It feels more like a grownup environment,” she says. “We’re not trapped at a little picnic table in a play place. It feels more like a cafe.”
That’s exactly what Nicole Gaida was aiming for when she and her husband, Stephen, opened Cafe O’Play two years ago. As a mother of three (the youngest, Katherine, born two days before her interview with the Journal), Gaida wanted to create a comfortable, welcoming place for families.
“Once your kids hit a certain age, you’re not bringing them into Starbucks without them pulling everything down and breaking things,” she laughs.
“So we tried to fuse good quality beverages and tasty foods that you get at a Starbucks in with a kids playground.”
While adults sip their Yummy Mummy Lattes and dine on hummus platters and gourmet sandwiches, the little ones choose from menu items such as soy nut and jam paninis and vanilla steamers.
Play outings for young families are no longer strictly kidcentric, say Sharla Nuijens and Donna Emsley, owners of Java Mama, a child-oriented coffeehouse in St. Albert that offers everything from grilled cheese and Cheerios to paninis and Caesar salad.
“We’re not primary colours like you would find at a McDonald’s,” Emsley says. “We’ve got your burgundies, your café-comfortable seating. So we’ve got the atmosphere of a Starbucks or a Second Cup, but with the addition of the play area as well.”
Parents want to be able to relax when they take their kids out, she says.
“When parents come to a café like ours, they’re surrounded by other parents or grandparents or caregivers, so if their child is crying then everybody understands.”
It’s a place where parents connect, she adds. “We’ve got new moms trading stories with each other in the café, we’ve got parents that have just moved to town that are looking to meet other parents.”
Child-rearing has changed over the years, Emsley says.
“Parents are getting out of the house more often now and they’re looking to meet other parents, they’re looking to socialize their kids.
“There are working moms, so we’re open on weekends for that. But there are a lot of stayat-home moms, too, who are looking to connect with other moms and get their kids out playing with other kids, get them ready for the next step of going to school.”
At Cafe O’Play, Kolskog and Nielsen experience that firsthand.
“I think it’s really bonded me and Deanna,” Kolskog says.
“Parents come to a café like ours, they’re surrounded by other parents or grandparents or caregivers, so if their child is crying then everybody understands.”
EMMA KOLSKOG
“I don’t think we would have been as close if we hadn’t had the common place to come and socialize and bond.”
And then there’s that delicious feeling of meeting your girlfriends for coffee, just like in the days before children, Kolskog adds.
“Being a mom is the hardest job in the world, and it’s so nice to be able to come to a place where you can just reconnect with other adults. It’s something we look forward to every week.”
Kolskog sips her coffee and looks toward the play area.
“It’s our day out,” she laughs. “We get lunch and we brush our hair and take a shower. It’s like, ‘I remember who I am,’ for a minute.”