ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Abilene welcomed a second 7 Brew coffee location on Wednesday. With more than 20 coffee spots calling the Key City home, the question arises: Does Abilene have too many coffee shops?
7 Brew first joined Abilene in September, seeing an immediate rush from the community to try something new, and the second location was no different. With the high energy being matched by the community, Mitch Stutler, with the company, says the response helped spark the idea of more locations.
“I think we knew we were going to have an impact. The way that Abilene responded to that first location, and even this one as well, has just been so cool,” Stutler said.
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The location follows the same schedule as the first, handing out free drinks and merchandise and donating to a local nonprofit organization. With lines wrapped around the establishment on their grand opening, what do the other coffee shops in town see?
Mezamiz Coffee House is one of the oldest in town, giving a contrasting, cozier vibe, serving Abilene for 27 years. The establishment was at risk of closing in the middle of the pandemic when the current owner, Milinda Roberson, decided to keep the community’s beloved spot alive.
Roberson told KTAB/KRBC that newer spots opening not only makes the coffee market more competitive but also leaves a temporary dip in business.
“Somebody else will open up. We’ll see a slowness for a while, and then all of a sudden, it’ll kind of pick back up again, but this whole year has been weird anyway. It’s been so up and down, so unpredictable,” Roberson said.
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Mezameiz opened its second location inside the Abilene mall in the Summer of 2023 to grow the establishment. Roberson said she keeps it going for the community and the memories people have tied to it.
“A lot of people just love it and are just trying to keep it going for themselves and the community. So that’s why it’s so important that the community help the small businesses,” Roberson said.
At Summer Moon, located in the Allen Ridge shopping center adjacent to Abilene Christian University, Franchise Owner Shelby Nunez says the best way to stay afloat in the competitive market of coffee is to cater to the community’s wants, something new.
“Abilene is all about the new stuff. You definitely have to kind of keep stirring the pot about how to get business continuing,” Nunez said.
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Local shops have seen a fluctuating amount of business. Nunez said that with the current state of the economy and the rising cost, customers do not see coffee as a necessity.
“For some people, coffee is, you could argue that some will say it’s too expensive to have a daily purchase of it,” Nunez said. “Whenever you’re deciding between, you need money for your family and for food and groceries, coffee isn’t necessarily like the most important thing, you know. So that definitely affects it. That’s why we try to incorporate that into our prices.”
With Abilene seeing a large number of college students and a large spread of coffee places, Nunez told KTAB/KRBC that there is space for them all to thrive because they are each unique and cater to different needs.
“We definitely are, I would say, a college hub in some form or fashion,” Nunez said. “I do think that everybody offers something different, and in some way, for us, all of our stuff is organic.”