In the Shadow of Starbucks

Building success in the coffee shop industry is about brewing a community environment. It's one of the qualities of Italian coffeehouses that inspired Howard Schulz to build Starbucks into a global brand, a brand that many analysts say has come to symbolize the chain store more than the corner store.

Wes Herman, owner of The Woods Coffee Co. in Whatcom County, has carved out nine such community environments (i.e., retail stores) of his own and plans on expanding south in 2010. What started as a single stand-alone shop in February 2002 in Lynden (population 11,000) quickly turned into a blueprint for success-one that Starbucks is trying to replicate, says Herman.

Each of The Woods' outlets has its own community identity. The newest of the three in Lynden is at the base of a 53-foot windmill in the Dutch-themed downtown. The Ferndale and Birch Bay outlets, the two most recent additions, feature inside-outside fireplaces and eco-friendly furniture constructed from local wood. But it is in Bellingham where Herman created not just a coffee shop, but also a community center.

The Woods took an old public building in Boulevard Park on Bellingham's waterfront and renovated it to LEED standards. "It was just a tired, almost 100-year-old building," Herman says. The 2,000-square-foot store sits steps from the water, and a roll-up garage door brings the outside in. From there, Herman ties to the community through sustainability.

With a public composting center and a four-compartment recycling center, the community has taken ownership of the building. That is why, Herman says, the two-year-old store without a drive-through window has boomed into his highest-grossing endeavor. The Woods shows that community interaction can be more important than traffic. "The idea that people will drive in, walk in and walk out [of Boulevard Park] is so foreign," Herman says.

To promote sustainable standards, The Woods is also the only coffee shop in the county to offer 100 percent compostable clear and paper cups. He promotes the use of tumblers for hot or cold drinks as an environmentally friendly practice. Western Washington University students can even get a free cup of the Viking Blend by wearing WWU gear and bringing in their own mug on "Western Wednesdays."

Sustainability is just part of the culture of business for Herman. "It is involving people and we want that interaction and participation," he explains. Such interaction helps create an essence of community, the paramount role in a new store's success. "In our case, we are connecting with community and trying to be a part of it ourselves in ways that are unique to

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