Owning a coffee shop has always been on Deb Braunig’s mind. But she’s doing more than brewing coffee at Kaffee located in Mahomet IGA. Braunig is bringing years of community experience to create a friendly atmosphere focused on people’s needs.
Braunig, who said she pursued a coffee shop business a few years ago, was approached by Mahomet IGA owner Brooks Marsh about implementing a coffee shop into the Bulldog Cafe last spring. Although Braunig was hesitant to pursue something that had fallen short before, she said the project unfolded seamlessly, and she decided it was the right thing to do.
“I’ve learned that had I done this a few years ago, I wouldn’t have been good at it because I’ve mellowed out in terms of not being so task-oriented, and have become more people oriented,” she said. “That’s a huge part of a business like this. It’s not just about making coffee or about selling chocolates. It’s about people and community.”
Braunig wanted to provide quality, regional products that could not be found anywhere else in Mahomet. Working with Columbia Street Roastery, Kaffee offers traditional and original hot drinks and whole coffee beans to brew at home.
Kaffee also offers an assortments of chocolates from the Chocolatier in Bloomington and baked goods from Pekara, The Great Harvest Bread Company and Sweet Indulgences.
Located in the Mahomet IGA, Kaffee also offers free WiFi and a meeting place for people who just want to read the paper or host a meeting.
“It has a community feel to it already,” Braunig said. “It’s built into the Mahomet IGA community.”
And Braunig, who has been an integral part of the Mahomet community for decades, wanted to bring her family along on the business journey, too. Her brother, Jim returned home from New Orleans to help with the artistic design.
“His gifts and talents are in art and design,” she said. “He takes the ideas that I have, and he runs with them. He’s been brainstorming, and his creativity is flowing. He’s excited about this.”
Jim designed the graphics and remodeled the space to reflect the warm, homey atmosphere Deb wanted to create with the word Kaffee. While searching for a word that represented coffee, she came across the German word kaffee, which not only brings out coffee and cafe, but also draws back to her husband’s heritage.
Braunig wants to make sure the Kaffee space remains focused on community needs and requests as it continues to grow. While hours are set from Monday to Friday 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, she said she is willing to stay open later if there is a need.
“It’s not focused on reaching a goal at the end of the day,” she said. “It’s more who did I meet today, and what conversations did we have? Yes, the bottom-line is interesting, but what gets me up at 3 a.m. is who am I going to meet today and how can I make their day special and how can I make them feel important?”
