Partner Profile: The Bus Stop Coffee Co. Runs on Community
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“Bye, I love you!” is a phrase Cameron and Erica Lewis say they regularly hear from one of their loyal pint-sized customers at The Bus Stop Coffee Co. in Sarver, PA.
Max and his Mom, Laura, are just two of the regular customers the couple has bonded with as they’ve transitioned from a mobile coffee bus to a permanent coffee shop.
Seven (7) days after they married in 2021, the couple decided to celebrate the new chapter in their lives by pursuing a passion project. Below is an excerpt of an interview between the Lewises and Experience Butler County’s Casey Hoolahan.
(The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Casey: I want some more of the behind-the-scenes of you guys. I know it started with the bus.
Cameron: We got married in September 2021, and the next week we bought a school bus! And then we spent the next year renovating, planning, and trying to open almost exactly a year later. As a mobile coffee shop, the goal has always been brick-and-mortar.
Casey: I'm sure traveling around to different areas gave you connections with a lot of people.
Cameron: We were able to grow our customer base very quickly, people were excited. Facebook was our primary (way of connecting). We were able to follow the people, instead of having them come to us.
Erica: We have a lot of regulars. We never expected we'd have regular customers. So yeah, it's kind of a fun little twist that we weren't expecting.
Casey: Are you from around this area?
Cameron: We both graduated from Knoch (High School). We went away to school and came back, and decided we wanted to be here. This is home.
Casey: Both of you, I'm assuming, had other jobs before this venture?
Erica: I was in corporate health care. We both have our bachelor's degrees and were in other roles. Now this is full-time for me.
Cameron: I'm a part-time EMT at Saxonburg Ambulance, and I work for Allegheny Health Network. That’s partly why we’re not open on Mondays, because I work on the ambulance.
"When we first started dating, we would just meet up on the weekends and go to coffee shops, and we just fell in love with the atmosphere."
Casey: Do you have a specific love for coffee or coffee shops?
Erica: When we first started dating, we would just meet up on the weekends and go to coffee shops, and we just fell in love with the atmosphere.
Cameron: There’s a community that comes with a coffee shop. You'll sit down at a table and talk to the stranger next to you, and you'll know about their kids. You'll know about their wives. You'll know about the wedding that they're going to next weekend, but you don't know who they are. And that's kind of a fun thing.
Being a barista is kind of like being a bartender, where people are comfortable talking to you. They tell you their life stories. We have kids come in, and we watch them grow up.
Casey: Obviously, this was a long-term goal, getting a brick-and-mortar. But as far as the future now... What are some of your dreams or hopes, goals?
Cameron: Honestly, I think, just because this (moving into the brick-and-mortar) is so fresh, I think this is it right now. The bus is still running and we'll take it to events. Maybe a coffee cart for indoor events, weddings, corporate-type stuff. I think that's a long-term goal.
Our next hurdle is hiring. We've recently hired two people. I think providing jobs is kind of cool.
Erica: It has never been anything but the two of us, so it's gonna be a weird twist, but I think it's a good twist.
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509 N. Pike Rd. Sarver, PA 16055 (724) 713-7911 Website