O' Joe's.
Despite more than 25 Dunkin’ Donuts chains in Providence alone, small coffeehouses like Cup O’ Joe’s are still brewing up a storm.
Doing business directly across the street from a Dunkin’ Donuts on Admiral Street in Providence, the café’s owner Joe Albergo said customer service is the single biggest reason that he can compete with the java heavyweights.
“Absolutely, no question about it, number one on my list is customer service — service with a smile,” Albergo said. “There is a certain percentage of people that want a little bit more than what (Dunkin’ Donuts) has to offer. It’s service with a smile and people feel better than when they first came in.”
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In today’s corporate America, a place with an atmosphere similar to Cheers may be one of the few things smaller cafes have to offer to compete with the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.
For Anthony Demings, owner of Brooklyn Coffee & TeaHouse, atmosphere is everything.
“Unlike a lot of coffeehouses, this coffeehouse is kind of like a home…It operates like a home: sometimes we have soup, sometimes we don’t, ” he said. The proprietor, who lives in an upstairs apartment above the café, added, “When you live, eat, and breathe in the community, as in this case, you’re sensitive — you know what they want.”
Albergo confidently set up his business across the street from the mega-franchise in November 1999 and business has been steadily increasing ever since.
Even with other singular coffeehouses nearby such as Brooklyn Coffee and Teahouse on Douglas Avenue in Providence, Albergo remains nonchalant about competition from such establishments.
“I think each place has its own personality…my competition as far as I’m concerned is bars and clubs.” In fact, he welcomes more coffee shops to the North Providence area. “Instead of people going to Federal Hill or Thayer Street and Wickenden [Street], now they’ll down come to this end of town.”
Product difference and enhancement are also what sets some of these shops apart from the rest.
“The numbers and the money are there if you give a good product with the service,” explained Albergo.
Some of these coffee shops also have open mic nights, poetry nights, artist exhibitions, live music, sewing nights, chair massages, candle light nights, and 16mm film nights to keep regulars coming.
Demings proudly mentioned his gardener and landscaper, Brito, and the botany that distinguishes their business both outdoors and indoors. Additionally, Albergo added that he keeps two guitars as well as flutes, banjos, and other instruments on the premises at all times.
“Anything else that happens? I don’t know — let’s wait five minutes,” added Albergo.
Considering Albergo’s stance on corporate American establishments such as Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, it’s almost needless to say that no plans for another Cup O’ Joe’s is in the works. “There’s only one Cup O’ Joe’s,” said the coffeehouse owner, “If you got a diamond in the rough, then leave that diamond…why spoil it?”
Daniela Busciglio is a senior at Providence College and an intern at Providence Business News.
