Espresso Bay and Juice Island 11/1/02 Press Release.
Ex-Seattleite to Open Gourmet Coffee and Smoothie Bar
in old Stage Milliken Building, Downtown Traverse City
Espresso Bay Owner, Ray Dornbusch, a Michigan native and 5 year resident
of Traverse City, recently spent 5 years in Seattle, the hottest coffee market
in the country, home of Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee. He spent
the past two years preparing to open the first of what he hopes will be many
Espresso Bay and Juice Island gourmet coffee and smoothie bars. This
first flagship store will be open 100 hours/week starting late this winter,
in the very heart of downtown Traverse City, on the first floor corner of
the old Stage Milliken’s Building. Espresso Bay will seat 100
people including a private meeting room for 25. Outdoor seating will
be available seasonally. By focusing almost exclusively on coffee, smoothies,
gelato and a few pastries, Espresso Bay can consistently provide the highest
quality and fast, fast service, for sit down and to go. Whole bean
sales and office coffee service available. I wanted to provide this
area with the pinnacle of gourmet coffee experiences and a place for the
community to meet and visit in the tradition of Milliken’s Tea Room.
In Seattle there are many places that offer a far superior product to Starbucks.
I want to be the first to bring the very top end coffees and other gourmet
beverages to Northern Michigan, combined with the best fitness smoothie and
juice bar products from California. I think this area is ready for higher
quality products and a nice place to enjoy them. You can’t buy these
products locally and the equipment and training required is beyond what your
typical café or coffee shop is willing or able to invest in.
I’m glad to be a part of the increasingly vibrant downtown.
Espresso Bay provides daily moments of luxury.
It’s more than enjoying the world’s finest espresso; it’s a special
resort-like retreat, away from the hustle and bustle. We hope that the
Espresso Bay experience is highly anticipated and fondly remembered each day.
The exceptional drinks, unique resort ambiance, and the cheerful, personally
engaging and entertaining employees will all contribute to the luxurious
daily experience.
Espresso specialty drinks, gourmet coffee, chai, bubble tea, spa elixirs,
gourmet tea, yerba matte, frozen and iced drinks, and other designer beverages.
Target consumer: Cuts across all demographics, young and old.
While not everyone can afford the best wine or fanciest restaurants, nearly
anyone can enjoy a relaxing moment enjoying the world’s finest coffee, for
just a buck or two. We should be especially popular with more educated
20-45 year olds. And anyone wanting to unwind for a while, or spend time visiting
with friends and other interesting people from the community.
We are looking for opportunities to sponsor the arts, and other local charities.
And hope to become a favorite for all kinds of gift certificates and for business
reward programs.
Décor: Espresso Bay reflects the luxury of an American bayside
resort. Reminiscent of Bay Harbor, MI, with a subtle nautical theme
including natural cherry wood cabinets, coffee colored granite counter top,
natural stone and earth tone tile floor, overstuffed chairs and sofa, indirect
lighting, a river rock fireplace, over 100 feet of windows and 14 foot
high exposed beam ceiling. The feeling is spacious and comfortably
luxurious, hand crafted, special and comfortably upscale.
Juice Island provides the vibrant energy of life.
Juice Island is the part of the bayside resort that attracts the active
and young at heart for fun and excitement. Juice Island sells whole
fruit smoothies and Gelato (Italian frozen dessert) that are intensely flavorful,
naturally full of energy ( up to 5 servings of fruit ) and more healthy.
Americans eat far too much processed sugar, pop, fat laden ice creams
and kool-aid type smoothies made mostly of ice, syrup or sugar mixes.
Juice Island provides a vibrantly healthy alternative for refreshment,
meal replacement and dessert. Fitness supplements can be added FREE
to all smoothies. Juice Island Gelato is better than ice cream. Gelato
has intense flavor, half the air and less than 1/3 the fat of premium ice
cream. Juice Island will also sell Fresh Wheat Grass; 1 oz delivers
the nutrition of 2.5 pounds of leafy vegetables. Juice Island also sells fresh
fruit and veggie juices.
Target consumer: Active, health conscious, 16-35. We are looking
for opportunities to sponsor all athletic events, teams and charity fundraisers.
Character of Juice Island reflects the high energy of the healthy, active,
and young at heart with a fun energetic atmosphere of bright pink, neon green,
yellow and purple. Naturally, you will find Juice Island inside the
Espresso Bay.
Top 10 Reasons to go downtown to Espresso Bay & Juice Island
1. Truly the best quality coffee and 4 kinds of espresso
, chosen after an exhaustive tasting of over 500 samples all claiming to
be the best. Fresh roasted twice a week, ground & brewed to
order by experts, with the only espresso machine of its kind in TC.
Fresh and Fast, daily moments of luxury.
2. Whole Fruit / 100% Juice smoothies. Most contain
5 servings of fruit. No mixes, no syrups, no added sugar or fructose.
Healthy and delicious smoothies provide the vibrant energy of life
3. Authentic Italian Gelato. Better than Ice cream,
more intense flavors, ½ the air and less than 1/3 the fat of premium
ice cream. Fat Free Fruit Sorbetto’s also made fresh at Juice
Island.
4. Comfortably luxurious meeting place, room for
100, sofa and overstuffed chairs, fireplace and private meeting room.
Outside food welcome. Cheerful, entertaining, quick employees.
5. Open 100+ hours a week to serve you better.
Planned hours of operation:
6am-8pm+ M-TH
6am-10pm Fri
7am-10pm Sat
7am-8pm+ Sun
6. Fresh varietals and estate whole coffee bean sales.
A French press pot available of any coffee, any day. Info and supplies
to bring the gourmet coffee experience home.
7. Your new place for coffee and pastry/dessert before
or after the show or game.
8. FREE fitness blast can be added to any smoothie.
9. Fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices, like carrot,
apple and orange juice.
10. TC’s only source for shots of Wheat Grass juice.
1 oz provides the nutritional value of 2.5 pounds of leafy vegetables.
Try a shot of wheat grass and a smoothie and get your fruit and vegetables
for the day!
Ray grew up in Midland, MI where he started Ray’s Bike Shop at age 15; he
got an MBA from U of M, marketed for P&G, SC Johnson and Amazon.com for
15 years. His wife, Linda, is from Bay City, and they have lived in
Traverse City for the past 5 years with their 3 children, Brandon, Krista
and Kara who will all be involved in the business.
Ray Dornbusch, 101 E. Bay Ct (home), TC 49686
Ph 231-932-9393 fax 630-982-8134
rayd@espressobay.com www.espressobay.com
Espresso Bay & Juice Island, 202 E. Front St.
