Keep Moving & Stay Focused To Your Mission
Hi .
My name is Renee Blanchard. I opened Church Alley Coffee Bar in 2013 in a friend’s house as a weekend pop up. 7 years later I’m still so excited to feed and share time with our customers. We’ve had so many new customers since COVID-19 turned our city and economy upside down, I wanted to introduce myself.
Church Alley is a people-focused, mission-based small business. I have a long background as an environmental and social justice advocate and that didn’t go away when I opened this little cafe. I moved back into the hospitality industry because I missed waiting tables and interacting with people all day long. It also solidified my belief that without a stronger commitment to a healthy and happy society we can’t achieve economic stability and growth. That’s something we are seeing right now in the virus that is impacting our community. 70% of those dying are black community members where the black population is only 34% in Louisiana. This is a terrifying impact to New Orleans neighborhoods and culture and shows that we have a lot to do to ensure we are all healthy and happy on a daily basis when this time is behind us.
While our main business is serving delicious and healthy food and drinks, I also share resources and my thoughts on tough issues facing our city, like white supremacy and climate change. I have taken on the Ben & Jerry’s business model. I hope you are willing to talk with me when these issues come up for us as citizens in challenging times. Talking about all the things is also a great part of neighborhood coffee shops and bars. Studies show people are healthier and happier when they have a regular place to sit and communicate with different types of people, like what happens in shops like mine.
Before the idea to do home deliveries came to me, I looked back to my mission. Nourish, empower, and serve. I sat on my back steps, coffee in hand, feeling the sunshine on my skin and asked for help.
How do I reframe a consumer facing hospitality business during a pandemic that is destroying my industry?
Why does Church Alley exist?
What new structure will succeed at this crossroad?
I started with our day to day structure and I realized after a false reframe that I was not walking in my integrity to encourage my customers to leave their homes for single use items. Health experts have been clear we should not be interacting in our normal way within groups. It was impossible to run our business for take out and not endanger my staff and guests. This is also what I’m hearing from respected business owners who have decided to close down during this time. I then decided home delivery was the only way forward for us. But what do I serve that will stay delicious and be efficient to deliver?
We have moved all of our business to home delivery and I’ve dismantled our menu to provide you with our most popular ingredients. For instance, black bean hummus is served inside our breakfast panini and a tahini lemon salad dressing is drizzled over our raw veggie bowl. But I’ve bottled these two things and now you can enjoy them at home one whatever you are cooking.
You can take a look at our full online store here - https://churchalleycoffeebar.square.site/
Our ordering deadlines are 4pm Tuesday (for Wednesday afternoon delivery) and Thursday (for Friday afternoon delivery).
We are also partnering with a number of other small businesses. Church Alley’s mission is to nourish, empower and serve. In times of struggle we believe in holding on to those next to us so we all survive. I hope you will purchase not only our products, but also the products of our partners.
New Orleans is incredibly special and I love that I am from South Louisiana, I cherish my cajun roots, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in these challenging times.
