thedrifter
09-14-08, 07:33 AM
Hometown's the place for coffee on the go
Posted by llupo September 14, 2008 01:50AM
One could imagine it being the worst day of his life. Although he was not hurt, he has a hard time talking about it today.
But personally, he's had worst days.
Thompson -- who at 48 years old and 6-foot-2 is an unlikely coffee shop barista at his Great Lakes Java Co. drive-thru -- remembers being in a hospital bed in Seattle in 2000.
At age 40, he had just suffered a heart attack and had two stents placed in his arteries. The potential tragedy of the situation struck as his children visited, the youngest of four just in the sixth grade.
"That was the worst day of my life," he recalls today.
It also was the beginning of a life change for this 1978 graduate of Oakridge High School who had seen the world and had two successful but diverse business careers on the West Coast before his mid-life heart attack. After his military career, Thompson became an environmental disaster first responder in California but made his mark in business with his own company as a private cabling contractor in Seattle.
The health concerns led him to eventually sell his cabling business in the Pacific Northwest and move back to Muskegon for family and fishing. By 2003, it was time to change the pace of his hectic life and get back to basics.
It was through his cabling company that he met his coffee mentor, a successful drive-thru coffee shop owner who helped Thompson establish his business in Muskegon. With one shop at 2437 W. Sherman, Thompson is looking to begin expanding with a second shop in the Russell Block Market in downtown Muskegon next summer.
"I have a good time with this business," Thompson said. "I enjoy my customers. They are so different with such diverse backgrounds. I like walking through town and having people call me 'Mr. Coffee.' "
Thompson's life has come full circle, from fishing the small ponds in the Wolf Lake area in his childhood to now fishing Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake from his modest boat. He has gone from a teenager interested in diesel engines to an experienced businessman doing his part to help redevelop downtown Muskegon in his hometown.
But there is a full life's story between a Wolf Lake childhood and Great Lakes Java. Like many of his generation, Thompson had to leave an economically troubled community in the 1980s to pursue his dreams, but at mid-life his hometown drew him back.
"I saw a need for a drive-thru coffee business here," Thompson said. "I wanted to change my life. The time in my life came to come back home and be around family."
Thompson was born and raised in Muskegon. He was one of seven siblings with a father who was a longtime lineman with what was then General Telephone Co. After high school, Thompson pursued his interest in diesel and auto mechanics at Lincoln Technical Institute in Indianapolis. Following some cross-country travels he joined the Navy in late 1980.
After his four-year Navy career sailing the world's seas, Thompson settled in the San Francisco Bay area, joining International Technology Corp. as a hazardous materials specialist.
His California environmental management career included working under contract to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to clean up methadone laboratories. By the end of the 1980s, he was handling projects from Oregon to Alaska and western Canada.
"Most of what I was doing in that business was simply a thrill-seeking job," Thompson said of the hazardous waste business. "I was going out to the highest bidder for some dangerous jobs."
But his second marriage in 1989 was the end of the danger-seeking and a time to begin a family life. Thompson formed a telecommunications support company, Cathi's Cable Contractors, named after his wife. Seattle was a hotbed of Internet and computer advancements with Microsoft Corp. leading the way.
"I used to climb poles and splice wire with my dad," Thompson said of his Muskegon upbringing. "I swore never to do what my dad did for a living, and then I opened a business doing it."
The cable company wired everything from private homes to multi-unit apartments and office buildings. The company had lucrative contracts with the local cable company and in three years, Thompson had built at 42-employee business.
His health crisis was a wake-up call for Thompson, who said he had "flatlined" on the hospital emergency room table before having his heart shocked back to life.
"I discovered the business was not that important to push life so hard," Thompson said reflecting back.
After a divorce, he decided to head back home and pursue his idea of starting a Seattle-style, drive-thru coffee business.
In trips back to Muskegon, he looked at the coffee shop opportunity. His unnamed business mentor in Seattle had eyed Michigan as a possible area for expansion, Thompson said, and he tested the Michigan coffee market by opening up Great Lakes Java in the former Garno's drive-thru sandwich shop on West Sherman Boulevard in 2005.
Through his Seattle connection, Thompson purchased the needed espresso-coffee equipment and still buys his coffee beans from his Seattle source. The secret to Great Lakes Java's smooth, mellow taste is the blending of specific medium roast coffee beans, Thompson said.
"Our taste is the reason that people will drive from Fruitport to get their drinks from us," Thompson said. "The business is holding its own. But with the economy the way it is, people are making a decision between a cup of coffee and buying gasoline."
Great Lakes Java sells espresso drinks, Italian sodas and fruit smoothies. The drive-thru is open 6 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends.
"The Muskegon coffee market is where Seattle was at 15 years ago," Thompson said of his hope to expand his business to locations beyond West Sherman and eventually downtown. "It's all about educating the customer. I hope to be in coffee as long as the customer keeps buying."
Chronicle/Ken StevensOwner Roy Thompson prepares coffee for a customer at Great Lakes Java Co. Enlarge photo
Roy Thompson was temporarily stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, with the U.S. Navy on Oct. 23, 1983, when two truck bombs destroyed a military barracks, killing hundreds of Marines.
Ellie
Posted by llupo September 14, 2008 01:50AM
One could imagine it being the worst day of his life. Although he was not hurt, he has a hard time talking about it today.
But personally, he's had worst days.
Thompson -- who at 48 years old and 6-foot-2 is an unlikely coffee shop barista at his Great Lakes Java Co. drive-thru -- remembers being in a hospital bed in Seattle in 2000.
At age 40, he had just suffered a heart attack and had two stents placed in his arteries. The potential tragedy of the situation struck as his children visited, the youngest of four just in the sixth grade.
"That was the worst day of my life," he recalls today.
It also was the beginning of a life change for this 1978 graduate of Oakridge High School who had seen the world and had two successful but diverse business careers on the West Coast before his mid-life heart attack. After his military career, Thompson became an environmental disaster first responder in California but made his mark in business with his own company as a private cabling contractor in Seattle.
The health concerns led him to eventually sell his cabling business in the Pacific Northwest and move back to Muskegon for family and fishing. By 2003, it was time to change the pace of his hectic life and get back to basics.
It was through his cabling company that he met his coffee mentor, a successful drive-thru coffee shop owner who helped Thompson establish his business in Muskegon. With one shop at 2437 W. Sherman, Thompson is looking to begin expanding with a second shop in the Russell Block Market in downtown Muskegon next summer.
"I have a good time with this business," Thompson said. "I enjoy my customers. They are so different with such diverse backgrounds. I like walking through town and having people call me 'Mr. Coffee.' "
Thompson's life has come full circle, from fishing the small ponds in the Wolf Lake area in his childhood to now fishing Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake from his modest boat. He has gone from a teenager interested in diesel engines to an experienced businessman doing his part to help redevelop downtown Muskegon in his hometown.
But there is a full life's story between a Wolf Lake childhood and Great Lakes Java. Like many of his generation, Thompson had to leave an economically troubled community in the 1980s to pursue his dreams, but at mid-life his hometown drew him back.
"I saw a need for a drive-thru coffee business here," Thompson said. "I wanted to change my life. The time in my life came to come back home and be around family."
Thompson was born and raised in Muskegon. He was one of seven siblings with a father who was a longtime lineman with what was then General Telephone Co. After high school, Thompson pursued his interest in diesel and auto mechanics at Lincoln Technical Institute in Indianapolis. Following some cross-country travels he joined the Navy in late 1980.
After his four-year Navy career sailing the world's seas, Thompson settled in the San Francisco Bay area, joining International Technology Corp. as a hazardous materials specialist.
His California environmental management career included working under contract to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to clean up methadone laboratories. By the end of the 1980s, he was handling projects from Oregon to Alaska and western Canada.
"Most of what I was doing in that business was simply a thrill-seeking job," Thompson said of the hazardous waste business. "I was going out to the highest bidder for some dangerous jobs."
But his second marriage in 1989 was the end of the danger-seeking and a time to begin a family life. Thompson formed a telecommunications support company, Cathi's Cable Contractors, named after his wife. Seattle was a hotbed of Internet and computer advancements with Microsoft Corp. leading the way.
"I used to climb poles and splice wire with my dad," Thompson said of his Muskegon upbringing. "I swore never to do what my dad did for a living, and then I opened a business doing it."
The cable company wired everything from private homes to multi-unit apartments and office buildings. The company had lucrative contracts with the local cable company and in three years, Thompson had built at 42-employee business.
His health crisis was a wake-up call for Thompson, who said he had "flatlined" on the hospital emergency room table before having his heart shocked back to life.
"I discovered the business was not that important to push life so hard," Thompson said reflecting back.
After a divorce, he decided to head back home and pursue his idea of starting a Seattle-style, drive-thru coffee business.
In trips back to Muskegon, he looked at the coffee shop opportunity. His unnamed business mentor in Seattle had eyed Michigan as a possible area for expansion, Thompson said, and he tested the Michigan coffee market by opening up Great Lakes Java in the former Garno's drive-thru sandwich shop on West Sherman Boulevard in 2005.
Through his Seattle connection, Thompson purchased the needed espresso-coffee equipment and still buys his coffee beans from his Seattle source. The secret to Great Lakes Java's smooth, mellow taste is the blending of specific medium roast coffee beans, Thompson said.
"Our taste is the reason that people will drive from Fruitport to get their drinks from us," Thompson said. "The business is holding its own. But with the economy the way it is, people are making a decision between a cup of coffee and buying gasoline."
Great Lakes Java sells espresso drinks, Italian sodas and fruit smoothies. The drive-thru is open 6 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends.
"The Muskegon coffee market is where Seattle was at 15 years ago," Thompson said of his hope to expand his business to locations beyond West Sherman and eventually downtown. "It's all about educating the customer. I hope to be in coffee as long as the customer keeps buying."
Chronicle/Ken StevensOwner Roy Thompson prepares coffee for a customer at Great Lakes Java Co. Enlarge photo
Roy Thompson was temporarily stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, with the U.S. Navy on Oct. 23, 1983, when two truck bombs destroyed a military barracks, killing hundreds of Marines.
Ellie