CROWN POINT IND. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Now, however, right-wingers in at least one town have a coffeehouse to call home: Conservative Café, which opened last October in this northwestern Indiana town, about 40 miles south of Chicago. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Although the cafe welcomes citizens of all political ideologies, it is positioned as the “anti-Starbucks,” and its target market is radically different from the consumers who patronize typical java joints. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“Most coffeehouses seem to be more of a wasteland of people who sit and listen to their iPods and look for their next friend in My-Space,” said owner Dave Beckham. “I just wanted to give grownups a place to enjoy good Midwestern coffee and sandwiches.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Even beyond its name, however, Conservative Café features political thematics at least as prominently as regional food and drink offerings. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
TVs in the cafe are tuned to Fox News. Books by right-wing author Ann Coulter are prominently displayed. The walls are covered with World War II memorabilia and other symbols of Americana, including a picture of Ronald Reagan. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
The cafe’s best-selling coffee is its Conservative Blend, followed by the Radical Right Blend. However, there’s also a Moderate Blend, and left wingers can try the decaffeinated Liberal Blend. Various specialty drinks, including espresso, cappuccino, caffé latte and Americano, are offered. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Patrons can buy T-shirts bearing such slogans as “Zip It, Hippie,” “Peace Through Superior Firepower” and “Silly Liberal…Paychecks are for Workers.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
About four years ago Beckham began thinking of opening a cafe that would “give people a more conservative viewpoint on life” to counter the “liberal-type flair” of Starbucks and other coffeehouses, he said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
But he doesn’t want anyone to think that he stands at a podium inside the restaurant haranguing customers with “radical ideas.” His aim is to advocate the “good, old American values that kept this country the greatest country the world has ever seen.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Conservative Café attracts consumers 30 and older who drink coffee not to make a statement but to get them through the day and on their way to work, Beckham said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“It doesn’t attract loiterers or people who just want to find a place to sit for hours and hours,” he said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Despite its conservative atmosphere, the cafe doesn’t cater specifically to Republican consumers, said Bill McCall, Beckham’s business partner. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“What we’re about transcends that,” he said, because consumers with conservative values can be found in any political party. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“We have strong hometown values,” he said. “We celebrate a good, strong work ethic. We feed the people who make the steel.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Neither Beckham nor McCall has a background in foodservice. Beckham was a middle-school teacher and construction worker, and McCall was the chief financial officer for a local hospital. Both had noticed what they considered a decline in customer service whenever they went into a chain restaurant. The idea behind Conservative Café was to open a place where consumers with traditional values would receive friendly service and good food and be thanked for their business, McCall said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“We’ve been consumers all our lives,” he said. “We know what we like and how we wanted to be treated. That translated into how we treat our customers.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Developing the food side of the menu, which includes breakfast items, soups, salads, and sandwiches, was “probably one of the most fun things of starting the business,” McCall said. It involved “a lot of tasting, a lot of trial and error and seeing what we liked and didn’t.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“It’s not a full menu,” he said, “but we wanted seven or eight things that we did extremely well.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Beckham and McCall tasted a number of coffees before deciding which blends to serve. The Radical Right Blend, for example, is described on the menu as a “strong Sumatran blend with deep intensely herbal flavors and thick body.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Conservative Café is two stories tall covering 4,800 square feet. It has a full basement and community rooms on the second floor that local political candidates used for fundraisers during the Indiana primary. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
It turned out that more Democrats than Republicans held events there, said McCall, who’s a Democrat himself. Indiana is a Republican stronghold, but Crown Point is located in Indiana’s Lake County, “the most Democratic county in the state,” he said. The party’s use of the cafe for fundraisers “shows these are union Democrats who believe in the same American values we’re pushing here,” McCall said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
When the cafe opened, Beckham said, naysayers warned that he automatically would alienate half his customers. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“There are people who won’t set foot in here because of the name,” Beckham said, but overall there’s been “very little backlash” to the concept. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“We do get liberals,” he said, “and they’re very curious and cordial, and they like [the cafe] for the ambience and food.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Beckham and McCall declined to divulge sales results, but McCall said “the numbers have exceeded our expectations,” especially during a recent public-relations push. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“There’s no doubt that PR is more effective than advertising when you’re building a brand,” said marketing strategist Laura Ries of Roswell, Ga.-based Ries & Ries. “Why most [marketers] turn to advertising is that it’s not easy to do PR. You have to have a strong idea and something very newsworthy, and most companies don’t have either.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
She called Conservative Café a “brilliant idea” because it’s not trying to imitate other coffeehouses. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“Here’s an opportunity to really get some people talking by doing the exact opposite, and it’s always good strategy to do the opposite of what the leader is doing,” she said. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Had Beckham and McCall opened a “liberal” coffeehouse, Ries said, “I guarantee it wouldn’t get any PR.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Since opening, Conservative Café has been featured in several newspaper stories and TV reports. In early August, conservative radio and TV host Glenn Beck devoted a segment of his syndicated radio show to the cafe. As a result, the cafe’s website crashed because so many people logged on to buy T-shirts and coffee mugs. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
Beckham plans to use the Crown Point restaurant as the headquarters for a franchised system of Conservative Cafés, which would be located in strip malls and have the same interiors of the flagship restaurant. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
After Beck’s radio show aired, Beckham received more than 40 franchising requests from people throughout the Midwest and from both coasts. He and McCall are in the early stages of finding assistance to help them franchise. —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.
“What we’re looking for is a corporate entity that knows the marketability of conservative values,” he said. “There are no more passionate people than conservatives.” —Coffeehouses in the United States have been associated with the counterculture ever since Beats in New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach frequented espresso hangouts to read poetry and discuss liberal causes.