Seattle is about to have not one, but two The Station coffee shops just off the link light rail, confirmed by Co-Owner Luis Rodriguez. The second location will be located at 3000 S Alaska Street Suite A & B in the corner of the Sonata at Columbia Station building.
An almost exact “copy-and-paste” of The Station is set to come to the bustling Columbia City area except it will be double in size at 1600 square feet compared to the first allowing for 75-80 people. Rodriguez has no plans of changing up the menu, but told What Now Seattle in an interview on Tuesday, “Why fix it if it’s not broken? Our product and message is already really nice. Maybe we will do something that’s only found in each. We might have either food or drinks at one or the other.”
The two locales are only 5 miles apart provided you find a special you like at one that’s not at the other. With events such as the weekly market in Columbia City, Rodriguez expects double the foot traffic of their first location.
Currently in Beacon Hills, The Station is already creating a name for itself and bringing a sense of community, according to Rodriguez. “There’s very few community coffee shops and restaurants anymore where people actually talk. But I have a lot of love for my community. I want to know who you are,” he said. Their mission isn’t strictly for profit, but to provide a safe space for their customers and to help other local business owners who can’t afford a brick-and-mortar by giving them a place to have pop-ups. “It’s a circle of love.”
Rodriguez comes by it honest. Having been introduced to coffee at the age of five by his father, it’s the only way he knows how to start his day. He told What Now Seattle, “Coffee is who I am. I take the first sip in the morning and automatically think of my father. I go into a childhood memory remembering waking up at 5 a.m. and drinking it with him. I drink it all day.”
Before The Station, he went into business with his brother for 26 years in a coffee shop named Java Love because at the time there was no coffee in the area, he said. Over time, Java Love transformed into Baja Bistro at the decision of the two owners. Rodriguez then left the bistro in the hands of his brother and then on with his wife’s permission to open The Station.
Once business really took off, wife and Co-Owner, Leona Moore-Rodriguez, came on board leaving behind her job at a law firm so the two could be their own bosses together. Keeping it in the family, their eldest works with them at the coffee shop as well.
With support from the community, The Station is receiving donations through their GoFundMe as well as receiving grants along with a loan to fund their next community-driven space in Columbia City with a hopeful opening of “April or May this year.”
