LAWTON – After eight years of selling another vendor’s version of energy tea, Paul and Tiffany Jewell wanted to try something different.
The Lawton husbandand- wife team fell in love with the idea of coffee-based drinks and energy teas about eight months ago, and they decided to open a shop that specializes in those products.
“We just wanted to start to kind of go out on our own and build our own brand and everything – something that we can eventually turn into a franchise,” Jewell said in an Oct. 4 interview at the Jewells’ new coffee shop, Charged Cafe. “And so, that kind of became the genesis of this right here.”
The Jewells and their staff celebrated Charged Cafe’s grand opening Oct. 4, two weeks after the store’s soft opening.
The grand opening had attracted about 60 customers by mid-morning, Jewell said.
“It’s been steady with big bursts,” he said.
‘Make energy teas mainstream’ Charged Cafe, located at 1415 NW 67th St. in Lawton, offers a variety of flavored coffee drinks and energy teas, which have sugar-free flavorings and more caffeine than a typical cup of tea. The menu also has a selection of baked goods, including doughnuts, muffins and croissants.
The store’s emphasis on craveable coffee drinks and energy teas makes it different from Lawton’s other coffee shops, Jewell said.
“One of our missions is to make energy tea mainstream,” he said. “Obviously, coffee is extremely mainstream. Sweet tea, unsweet tea – those types of things are mainstream. But our goal is to make energy tea actually mainstream as well.”
The Jewells’ immediate goals include building a strong customer base in Lawton, then looking at expanding into other communities in southwest Oklahoma and north Texas.
Jewell said their biggest challengers are creating delicious drinks and cultivating customers around the region.
The couple also wants to ensure that their business reflects their religious faith, which shows in the way staffers greet customers.
“Literally, everybody that leaves the door, we’re telling them to have a blessed day,” Jewell said. “We believe that has an impact on people, so that’s something that’s very, very important to us.”
He said the Jewells are not pressing their faith on people, but they are thanking customers for starting their day at Charged Cafe and encouraging them to have a great day.