YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two best friends took their love of coffee on the road.
Anna Luongo of Canfield and Darla Schafer of Austintown started Coffee Run, a mobile coffee shop, in October.
“This has been a very long journey and kind of a dream come true moment,” Luongo said.
It started when the two friends and business partners heard of another mobile coffee shop that sold its truck and backed out of an event.
“We were like, well, let’s give this a shot. And it’s been pretty good ever since,” Luongo said.
Coffee Run partners with other businesses in Mahoning County and surrounding areas. Those businesses invite the trailer to events or to spend a day, mostly on weekends, parked outside and serving customers.
Second Sole in Boardman, OK Go Play in Canfield and Sespe Burger in Columbiana are frequent locations. Coffee Run also does private events, including bridal showers and weddings.
Schafer said clientele includes people frequenting the partner businesses and those driving or walking by, as well as regular customers who follow Coffee Run on social media.
“We have probably close to a 50-50 split between return customers and new customers each time we go out somewhere, which is cool,” Schafer said.
Social media allows the business to keep in touch with people, updating customers about locations and dates. The trailer shows up even in inclement weather.
“Since we’re fairly new, we kind of fight the cold and make do,” Luongo said.
The two women met while working at a Boardman coffee shop.
“Pretty early into our friendship, we were like, ‘Hey, I would also like to own a coffee shop,’’” Schafer said. “It was just something that we talked about in passing for years.”
Then one day, they decided to get serious about finding something. They opted for mobile because it affords flexibility.
“Once we found a trailer, we were like, ‘Alright, let’s do this,’” she said.
Coffee Run is booked into May and expects business to remain steady when the weather warms.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m thinking it’s going to be pretty OK,” Schafer said. “If people are kind and willing enough to wait in the cold weather for us like they have been – we have lines which have just been incredible – then I think the warmer weather is going to add to that, hopefully.”
The best-selling item has been the iced latte, and Luongo said the business has a line when it opens its window at a location until it closes.
“Now, on average, we’re staying open an additional 45 minutes to accommodate the line, and that’s with people standing in line with this really cold weather,” she said.
They get their coffee beans from LiB’s Market in Salem, and Coffee Run’s menu includes regular and iced latte, hot and cold brewed coffee, hot and iced tea, hot and iced Americano, hot dark chocolate and matcha.
“Something that really makes us stand out from the crowd is something we do called a spr’oda,” Luongo said.
That’s two shots of espresso over ice with seltzer water. For Valentine’s Day, they offered seltzer water, Dr. Pepper, Coke or Diet Coke varieties. The menu also has a Lotus drink, which Luongo described as a plant-based energy drink that packs the equivalent punch of two cups of coffee. They make their syrups in-house.
They worked with graphic designer John Craig to perfect their branding, and Luongo said he brought their vision to life. The iced latte cup features a smiling coffee mug, courtesy of the designer. Both Luongo and Schafer believe the design contributes to the drink’s popularity.
“We really tried to cut no corners,” Schafer said. “First and foremost, it’s a craft coffee experience, but it’s a very approachable craft coffee experience. You don’t need to be intimidated to walk up to our window and not know what you want. We love to help people figure out what they want to drink.”
Pictured at top: Darla Schafer and Anna Luongo.