Cadence Coffee Co. aims to brew up business in Chattanooga

Laura Grady, a barista at Cadence Coffee Co., makes a mocha cappuccino Monday.

Photo by Dan Henry.

• Name: Cadence Coffee Co.

• Location: 16 Patten Parkway in the Volunteer Building

• Hours and contact information: 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. 423-521-7686

• Products: Coffee, espresso-based drinks, whole bean coffee, pastries and fountain drinks

• Age: Cadence opened Oct. 17

• Startup investment: About $60,000

• Target market: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's student population and those working in the area.

• Biggest hurdle: Technical issues and marketing. Cadence is using Apple products for all its systems, for example, it uses an iPad as a cash register. Integrating all the shop's systems has been difficult. In addition to computer problems, owner Shannon Greer said it's been a challenge getting people to know the shop exists. "We really wanted to get opened and develop a neighborhood customer base, but we really want to see our evening traffic pick up," he said.

• Biggest reward: Immediate customer loyalty. Greer said he's already had several repeat customers and has heard a few say Cadence is their new favorite cafe. "We want it to be a 'Cheers' kind of coffee shop, the place where everyone knows your name," he said.

• Lesson learned: Have patience. The business has been open only for about a week, but it can be difficult to wait for marketing and word of mouth to draw more customers to the shop. "We're kind of like, 'Well maybe we need to do this, we need to do that,'" Greer said. "There's still not a whole lot that we can determine just off of the last six days of being opened."

• Five-year goal: Become a mainstay Chattanooga coffee shop. Greer hopes his shop will become a meeting place for the community. "We'd love to see this being one of the coffee shops that Chattanoogans talk about, that Cadence is that place where you go and get a really good cup of coffee, an excellent cup of coffee, but it's one of the places you feel at home," he said.