Starting this Friday, Oct. 3, students who need a quick caffeine fix in the mornings can bypass Starbucks and head straight to the new coffee shop that will be opening up inside the spirit shop.

Hoping to increase the amount of students who visit the spirit shop and earn revenue for the business department, a board of DECA students proposed a plan for the coffee shop to Principal John Williams. Their plan was approved and they will begin selling a variety of coffee drinks and hot teas during the mornings.

Zak Grove, member of the DECA board that concocted the idea for this shop and senior, explained how the group spent two weeks composing a 15-page paper for the principal. Within this paper, they detailed surveys they conducted and outlined a future for the shop.

“We went to various SRTs and found out many students would be willing to buy coffee from the shop,” Grove said. “After we had presented to Williams, he seemed very surprised and excited about the idea. He told us he wanted to buy our first cup of coffee.”

This new store is not meant to compete with the spirit shop, and it is hoped it will supplement and increase business within the spirit shop.

“We talked to a lot of seniors, and by that time they weren’t really coming to the spirit shop anymore. With coffee, though, that’s really something the seniors would buy,” Grove said. “So the goal is that students will visit the spirit shop for coffee and see more of the merchandise and get more interested with that. It’ll increase profit in general.”

Richard Reid, DECA sponsor and IB business teacher, spoke of how the students did most of the work regarding this project, as it will almost be entirely student-run. The purpose behind this endeavor is to alleviate the cost of DECA trips and activities for students who participate.

“We want to put the profits to good use to subsidize the trips DECA takes. We have a trip to Orlando so it would be helpful to reduce the cost of that for the students,” Reid said. “We expect to earn $50,000.”

The coffee shop will be selling gourmet coffee at $2.50 per cup, which will include drinks like espressos and vanilla lattes. There will also be a variety of teas and seasonal flavors, such as pumpkin spice. Some restrictions, however, are applied in regards to sugar.

“Caffeine is not regulated at this point, but with the school, we do have to avoid sugar,” Reid said. “So we have sugar-free syrups. Our coffee’s so delicious, though, that it doesn’t even need any sugar.”

Reid said that while the DECA board members aspire to make the coffee free at some point, that may not be possible. However, prices may be greatly reduced over time. At the same time, profit is also crucial to their business model.

“In the end, we want the business department to be pretty self-sufficient. The profits from the store would act as funds,” Grove said.

The coffee shop will be run by DECA students, who already managed the spirit shop, with oversight provided by Reid. Having put a profuse amount of effort into this effort, students have publicized the shop on the announcements and through various social media outlets.

Reid said, “They hope the coffee shop will continue for years even after they graduate. This is the legacy they want to leave behind.”