{"id":202349,"date":"2010-01-20T03:07:49","date_gmt":"2010-01-20T08:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stanforddaily.com\/cgi-bin\/?p=1037287"},"modified":"2010-01-20T03:07:49","modified_gmt":"2010-01-20T08:07:49","slug":"coupa-to-open-march-3-at-earliest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/202349","title":{"rendered":"Coupa to open March 3 at earliest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MoonBean's<\/p>\n

MoonBean's Coffee occupied the kiosk next to Green Library until last year, when Stanford Libraries awarded Coupa Cafe a new lease on the space. Coupa's opening has been delayed months due to permitting issues. Renovating the space is expected to cost $177,000. (Stanford Daily file photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The coveted kiosk outside Green Library that used to house MoonBean\u2019s Coffee was, until this year, a center of intellectual vitality on campus. The outdoor cafe was a guaranteed location for an awkward run-in with your IHUM T.F. and a hub of academic discussion outside the classroom.<\/p>\n

For the past six months, however, the kiosk has been empty as preparations are made for MoonBean\u2019s replacement — the second on-campus Coupa Caf\u00e9, which is projected to cost Stanford Library $177,000.<\/p>\n

According to Kelly Rohlfs, a project manager for the Stanford Department of Project Management, if final construction permits from Santa Clara County come through this week, Coupa could be ready for occupancy by March 3.<\/p>\n

The hope comes after months of broken promises. The kiosk was first set to open by the start of the 2009-2010 school year and has continually been pushed back due to permit delays.<\/p>\n

With some permits in place, such as the electrical permit, construction workers are finally on-site for the renovation process. But plumbing and mechanical permits are still needed, and even if renovations are complete by March 3, it may be longer before the cafe is fully operational.<\/p>\n

Still, Coupa Caf\u00e9 owner Jean Paul Coupal \u201907 — listed in the Stanford directory as affiliated with the vice provost and dean of research — hopes to begin service soon after the end of construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already begun training staff two months ago,\u201d Coupal said. \u201cThe idea is to be ready to operate basically at 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Months of Delays<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrew Herkovic, director of communications and development for Stanford University Library and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR), said the Library, which own the kiosk, did not expect the renovation process to take as long as it has.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no reason to believe it would be this ridiculous of a delay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Rohlfs, however, the permitting process normally takes months, so this time frame is not unusual.<\/p>\n

Another reason for the delay is that the original plans for the new cafe only included minor renovations. The need for extensive renovations was not discovered until late in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally the plan was to do a light renovation and open in September,\u201d Coupal said. \u201cBut I had never gone into the building until after the bidding process, and we\u2019d never done a study of what was there until after MoonBean\u2019s left.\u201d Coupal said he had to wait to see the interior until after MoonBean’s had moved.<\/p>\n

MoonBean\u2019s operated under a provisional permit because the kiosk was not built in accordance with county health standards. Now that the kiosk will be changing tenants, the building is required to be updated to meet these county regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were surprised by the conditions of the building,\u201d Coupal said. \u201cIt had been there for 12 years with no updating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kiosk will now be undergoing an extensive interior renovation to bring the kitchen up to health code regulations and allow for more on-site food preparation.<\/p>\n

Included in this $177,000 remodel will be a new exhaust hood, sinks and flooring, as well as plumbing and electrical updates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is being brought up to health code regulations,\u201d Coupal said. \u201cIt will be non-viewable to the public, in the kitchen area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupal said that he also plans to make changes to the furniture in the outdoor seating area. Jennie Reynolds, the former owner of MoonBean\u2019s, wrote in an e-mail to The Daily that she had been asking Stanford to change this same seating area for years.<\/p>\n

Bidding War<\/strong><\/p>\n

MoonBean\u2019s had been the tenant of the Library kiosk for 10 years. When its lease expired last spring, SULAIR solicited bids for the kiosk space.<\/p>\n

According to Herkovic, the Library received four bids for the space, including one from MoonBean\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose based on a combination of hours, services, quality, variety, business terms and stability,\u201d Herkovic said. \u201cOverall, Coupal clearly came out ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds said she was surprised by the outcome of the bidding process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fairly certain we would get the contract,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI knew the building needed improvements and that we may have to close for a short period to do that, but I didn’t think we would lose the spot. The Library had never expressed any dissatisfaction with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Frykman \u201911, a former MoonBean\u2019s employee, believed library staff had had qualms with certain aspects of the MoonBean\u2019s culture. \u201cWe were trying to keep on the library\u2019s good side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reynolds added that the Library had asked to increase her rent — an extra cost she could not afford without trade-offs for her employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a point in the bidding process when Stanford asked for more money,” Reynolds said. “The difference in yearly payment would have been more than $40,000. Lots of my employees had been hoping for a raise, and health insurance was through the ceiling. I just couldn’t justify it, especially with the additional output of money to remodel. I don’t know if the decision would have been different if we had agreed to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herkovic said SULAIR chose Coupa because its proposal offered the best overall plan. \u201cCoupa\u2019s proposal showed an interest in more and better food service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What’s Next<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new Coupa Caf\u00e9 will be offering both coffee beverages and hot food.<\/p>\n

Herkovic acknowledged concerns about increased congestion and waiting time associated with hot food preparation, although Coupal has plans to assure adequate speed of customer service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is that the kitchen will be a powerhouse,\u201d Coupal said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll have at least two registers to start.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m guessing the lines are going to be pretty long, though,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Despite promises of longer hours of operation and a more extensive menu, many students have expressed dissatisfaction with the way the transition was handled. In particular, some students wonder why SULAIR had not looked into the permit process before evicting MoonBean\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charitable way to understand this would be to say that the Library is not in the habit of building kitchens,\u201d said Justin Brooke \u201910, a student member of the Board of Trustees Committee on Land and Buildings, who said he was not speaking on behalf of the board or the committee and looked into the issue as a matter of personal interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, I think that when the stakes are as high as they are, the Library should have been more careful and cognizant about what was involved with the construction — they should have gone in with all the facts,” Brooke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the Library didn’t know what it was doing, the Stanford community has lost a very important cafe for the summer, autumn and winter quarters,\u201d he added. \u201cThe kiosk, whether it’s MoonBean’s or Coupa, is an integral part of the Stanford lifestyle for so many people. To have that disappear for such a long time is an enormous failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"As<\/p>\n

As coffee-lovers await Coupa's opening, set for March 3 at the earliest, the cafe has installed an espresso machine inside Meyer Library. The opening was originally set for fall. (GARNER KROPP\\The Stanford Daily)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To provide a substitute for the now-vacant cafe, Coupa Caf\u00e9 has installed a permanent coffee and espresso vending machine in Meyer Library. The machine will remain in place after Coupa opens to allow for 24-hour coffee service in the library area.<\/p>\n

Coupal hopes that this vending machine and his new caf\u00e9 will serve the undergraduate community in particular. \u201cI want to contribute to Stanford student life as we have in Y2E2,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we can offer that on the opposite side of campus, it\u2019s only a benefit for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Reynolds, who had closed her other Bay Area caf\u00e9s to focus on the Stanford MoonBean\u2019s, finding out that the well-loved coffee shop would not be given another lease was a shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s one thing to lose your job, but entirely another to lose the company you ran since you were 23 years old,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was life-changing, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the state of the economy, most former MoonBean\u2019s employees have found new jobs. Frykman said he was fortunate in that he was not financially dependent on his job at MoonBean\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing it to make spending cash,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for a lot of others, it was their only job, and they were doing it to pay their rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since losing her business, Reynolds has kept busy with fiction writing and a band she has just started. At this point, she does not plan on reopening a MoonBean\u2019s caf\u00e9 in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do really miss Stanford, though,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI’m still making everybody’s drinks in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MoonBean's Coffee occupied the kiosk next to Green Library until last year, when Stanford Libraries awarded Coupa Cafe a new lease on the space. Coupa's opening has been delayed months due to permitting issues. Renovating the space is expected to cost $177,000. (Stanford Daily file photo) The coveted kiosk outside Green Library that used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3594"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}