News Cafe to open at Star office
For Green Bean Cafe owner Ben Davidson, it’s not unusual to run a business with a philosophy in mind.
“We wanted to do something specifically that we thought was good for our neighbours. That’s very important to us,” Davidson said.
That sense of community was a big factor in Davidson and his wife Michelle starting the Green Bean Cafe near the University of Windsor campus more than three years ago — and it’s with the same spirit that they’re opening a second location downtown.
As of mid-March, the independent coffee house will be the exclusive food and beverage provider for The Windsor Star’s News Cafe on the second floor of The Star’s new home at 300 Ouellette Ave.
The announcement was made Monday on the social media site Twitter by Star publisher and editor-in-chief Marty Beneteau.
“We see it as an extension of what we’ve been doing at the university,” Davidson said. “There’s a whole different group of people (downtown) that we’re looking forward to connecting with.”
Davidson said the downtown location will offer all the fare that the Green Bean Cafe is known for: fair trade organic and premium coffee; grilled paninis and wraps with vegetarian and vegan options; fresh baked goods; soups, salads, teas and more.
The cafe’s original location — a church basement at 2320 Wyandotte St. West — will remain open to serve the student community. Davidson said he plans on adding to his current staff of 14 in order to operate the News Cafe.
Hours for the News Cafe are still being determined, but Davidson said it will be open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a minimum, and there will also be weekend hours.
Bev Becker, The Star’s director of marketing, said the Davidsons’ philosophy was a big reason why the Green Bean Cafe was chosen to partner in the News Cafe.
The hope is for the cafe to become more than a place of business. Becker said The Star wants members of the public to feel comfortable booking the space for a variety of purposes: community meetings, networking events, political debates, news conferences, student broadcasting, and even live music and entertainment.
“We’re trying to make it an interactive area for our journalists as well,” Becker said. “We’d love to see our reporters and columnists working out of that space, meeting and interacting with the community. It’s part of our goal to make The Windsor Star very transparent.”
For 32-year-old Davidson — a theology graduate and former evangelical Christian pastor — good business is about “living consistently with what we believe.”
I don’t think that’s unusual at all. I mean, we’re all trying to make a living, but we all make decisions about how we spend our lives, what we put our energy into,” Davidson said.
That’s why there’s a conscious effort at Green Bean Cafe to sell coffee in a way that’s as fair as possible “for everybody involved, from the person who buys the cup to the person who’s growing the coffee cherries,” Davidson said.
The Green Bean Cafe also favours local food suppliers and healthy menu choices — a reflection of 28-year-old Michelle Davidson’s education and employment in nursing.
The downtown launch is tentatively set for the third week of March, and will introduce new items in the sandwich and salad sections of the menu, Da- vidson said.
Davidson said he’s excited about the cafe’s partnership with The Star, and hopes the new location will strengthen the relationship between the public and the news organization.
He’s also excited about the view from the News Cafe’s twin balconies that overlook Ouellette Avenue. “It’s going to be a modern urban cafe that also helps connect us with Windsor’s past.”