BREWING SUCCESS
Backyard Beans Coffee Company's downtown cafe celebrates five years
LANSDALE » It’s been five years since Backyard Beans Coffee Company opened its downtown Lansdale coffee shop, but co-owners Matt and Laura Adams say they’re just getting started.
“I want to use Backyard Beans as a way to help develop Main Street Lansdale,” Matt said.
The Adams’ have dominated the local coffee scene in the borough, bringing a variety of new blends to town since starting the business in their Lansdale backyard in 2013.
Four years later, the couple’s downtown coffee shop, located at 408 W. Main St., offers patrons beverages from a full espresso bar as well as breakfast and lunch foods from the kitchen.
“There’s just a feeling of togetherness that you have when you walk in the door,” Laura said.
Along with the coffee shop, Backyard Beans Coffee Company has a wholesale operation, where bags and cold brew cans are sold in a variety of independent establishments and grocery stores in the Greater Philadelphia and Mid Atlantic regions. When asked how it felt to reach this milestone, Matt laughed.
“It feels great,” he said. “I laugh because it doesn’t feel like five years because the last two years just feel like a blur.”
“As a business owner, and a homeowner, and a resident of Lansdale, it kind of bugs me when you hear people on Facebook forums, or just chatter being like, ‘Well Lansdale should be more like Ambler, or Doylestown, or Phoenixville,’ and it makes me cringe because Lansdale should be Lansdale.” — Matt Adams
Pandemic changed things
Like many others, Matt and Laura’s business was
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While many businesses were closed during the pandemic’s early days, others were forced to change in order to operate in a restricted fashion.
That didn’t come without challenge. Fourteen employees were laid off, Matt said. The Lansdale cafe implemented a drivethru and contactless takeout models to accommodate customers.
In the midst of the global public health crisis, Backyard Beans managed to open a second, thriving location in nearby Ambler, located at 22 E. Butler Ave.
“It has been overwhelmingly successful in terms of the growth that we’ve seen at both cafes, but in Ambler in particular, opening it up a year-and-fivemonths-ago during the fall after lockdowns, it has been very encouraging to see how the community in Ambler has reacted to the opening of that shop and supported us,” Matt said.
Throughout the many waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and the variants that came along with them, they learned to adapt as restrictions eased once more. Matt and Laura said that the customer base has “increased substantially” from both new and repeat patrons.
“I want customers who want to support us here because they live in town, or they live in the community; they see the impact that we’re trying to make with our business locally,” he said. “It’s … important to keep that in focus, and the pandemic, I think really played a lot into that.”
All about community
That sense of community is entrenched in the fabric of Backyard Beans. The business participates in “Make a Difference Monday,” in which a portion of proceeds are gifted to a local organization. They work “a lot with groups, organizations (and) volunteers ,” emphasizing the value in community partnerships.
“(We) put down roots as a hub in the community where we want to support the people in our community, and also see how they’ve supported us,” Laura said.
Five years, two coffee shops, a bakery expansion and a wholesale business later, Backyard Beans Coffee Company now has around 35 employees, Laura said. The shop officially opened on April 10, 2017. Next April will mark 10 years in business for the coffee company’s beginnings as a wholesale business.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for where this path has led us. It is our customers who have made this a success,” Laura said in a statement.
Bigger picture
With the Lansdale location well established, Matt has turned his attention to thoughts of revitalization.
“Seeing how Lansdale transforms, just being a part of that, is definitely something that I get a lot of energy from,” he said.
Matt stressed the importance of brainstorming ways to make Lansdale the best version of itself with future development of the downtown borough.
“As a business owner, and a homeowner, and a resident of Lansdale, it kind of bugs me when you hear people on Facebook forums, or just chatter being like, ‘Well Lansdale should be more like Ambler, or Doylestown, or Phoenixville,’ and it makes me cringe because Lansdale should be Lansdale,” he said. “Our identity as a community is going to be inherently different than the surrounding towns.”
Matt and Laura also seek to pay it forward, taking their own experience to help other local emerging businesses. Matt offered to be a “sounding board for ideas” and give insight on various processes, including zoning.
“Helping other business owners in Lansdale, or in the area, that are really looking to put down roots in their community, and establish a brand, and open up a retail store, or just operate out of a warehouse. Just everything (we) learned, (to) just help anywhere we can because ultimately, that’s what’s going to revitalize the Main Street,” he said. “We don’t just need businesses, we need businesses that are going to be here for the long term.”