Dewey's Cafe: Business is Booming

Tyler Liedman and Chris McLean, co-owners of Dewey's Cafe in the Wescott Library, will be celebrating the coffee shop's on May 18.

Liedman said he loves his job. He also loves the library atmosphere and takes pride in making "great coffee."

The men say most things have gone pretty much as they expected other than the "normal unforseeables of starting a business."

The two are still trying to figure out the ebb and flow of customers, saying that some days when they expect the cafe to be slow it will turn out to be "crazy busy."

At first, most of their customers were library patrons who also stopped in for coffee. However, an increasing number of regulars now treat Dewey's as their neighborhood coffee shop, which is exactly what Liedman and McLean are hoping for. 

Sales so far are meeting projections and the business has been able to sustain itself. As a matter of fact, interviews for the cafe's very first employee currently are being conducted. 

Liedman and McLean are hoping to be licensed in the future so they can make sandwiches and soups on-site, and the two are looking to the summer months when the library is typically busier than the rest of the year. They also hope to do more catering for business meetings in the community.

Liedman said they are "extremely confident" about their products. Dewey's best sellers are original-recipe items such as: 

• Mocha and hot chocolate, which start with gourmet dark chocolate chips
• Long Island Iced Coffee, which Liedman says is very popular
• Under the Cherry Moon (mocha with black cherry and vanilla)
• Caramel Cream AuLait, which McLean describes as a "hot ice cream float"
• Frappalappacino—a tongue-in-cheek take on chain coffee shop drinks

Both McLean and Liedman said it's important to be who they are, and their personalities come through, not only in the names of coffee drinks, but also on their Facebook page where posts often display an irreverent, quirky sense of humor.

McLean said they get very positive reactions from customers and great comments on their drinks. 

One such regular is telecommuter and Inver Grove Heights resident Mike Shaughnessy, who has been spending several hours a day at Dewey's for the last few weeks "just to get out of the house" for a while during the day.

Shaughnessy said he noticed the cafe one day as he was walking out of the library and decided to give it a try. He said Dewey's has excellent coffee and Liedman and McLean are very friendly. 

From the perspective of Eric Austin, library manager, "It's going wonderfully. There is always someone in there whenever I walk by."

Friends of the Westcott Library President John Elliot concurred saying, "Every time I walk in (to the library) there are people in there. From my perspective, I see people with coffee in their hands and books in their hands and that fulfills my expectations for what I want to see happen at the library."

Dewey's is open during all regular library hours and patrons are allowed to carry their covered beverages with them as they browse and read.