Local coffee company raises more than $13,000 for roaster
Christina Ulsh
Contributing Writer
Kickstarting a campaign to raise $30,000 in 30 days, Bookish Coffee wants to expand and needs a new roaster to do so, owner Clay Rozell said.
Bookish Coffee is a Denton-based coffee bean roaster. Locals can buy its 7-ounce bags of whole bean coffee at The Cupboard, Natural Grocers or Denton Square Donuts, Rozell said.
The local company started a Kickstarter project to buy a new roaster. The current 5-pound roaster has been used since Bookish was under old management, which conducted business out of the past owner’s backyard, seven years ago, he said.
Kickstarter, a fundraising website that supports creative projects, is a platform that allows donors to get rewards for supporting a campaign. If goals are not reached within the necessary amount of days, donors do not get charged and will not receive the rewards.
Bookish Coffee donors can get prizes according to how much they spend.
“The response has been real positive,” Rozell said. “The momentum has been good but it has started plateauing out.”
Rozell is uncertain how to turn 700 “likes” on Facebook into 700 donors, he said. As of Monday, the number of financial supporters is 96.
Communication design senior Molly Hensley said she wanted to donate to the campaign, but she wasn’t really certain what the campaign was for. She thought Bookish wanted to get a larger space for the business, she said.
“I feel like he grazed the surface of what he wanted to do,” she said, “He didn’t really explain the campaign.”
Rozell plans to attach card-sized flyers to bags of Bookish coffees he distributes to Denton Square Donuts, Natural Grocers and The Cupboard to inform Denton about his fundraiser. He also planned to take these informative coffee bags to sell at the Denton Community Market.
Post-baccalaureate student Whitney Smith suggests Bookish Coffee serve samples at the farmer’s market, which takes place midday on Saturdays.
Denton Square Donuts brews and serves Bookish for its house coffee. It also sells the individual bags of coffee beans, co-owner Hunter Besselman said.
Denton Square Donuts gets a freshly roasted shipment of Bookish Coffee beans every week, Besselman said.
Each week, Denton Square Donuts sells between eight and 15 bags of Bookish Coffee, co-owner Jackie Rippy said.
More information about the Kickstarter campaign can be found at www.bookishcoffee.com.
$10 or more | $25 or more | $50 or more | $100 or more | $250 or more | $300 or more |
| name listed as supporter on Bookish website and vinyl “Bookish Coffee” sticker | bag of Bookish Coffee beans | “Bookish Coffee” mug | three bags of Bookish Coffee and an American Apparel “Bookish Coffee” T-shirt | a Bookish Coffee tour and tasting for donor and two friends | six-month subscription of Bookish Coffee, four coffee bags a month |
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