“Connecting people through expertly crafted coffee, food, and unique gifts.”
We were on our third branding meeting for the new Meeting Place on Market. Due to the closures from the pandemic, we finally had the time to stop and reimagine our business. First it started with a remodel of the cafe - we wanted to create a space that felt welcoming, calm and overall just a comfortable place to meet with your friends and family. Then we moved on to the other half of our business, the gift boxes. The Meeting Place has always had the ability to ship certain coffee items and a few bakery items around the country, but COVID-19 really made us aware of how much more we needed to offer. During a time when people couldn’t physically be together, they were desperate for any way to connect with their loved ones. And, if they weren’t looking to send a gift to someone else, they wanted to send some joy to themselves. But were coffee and baked goods enough? Or could we offer our customers other items to make their lives easier in a time where nothing was easy?
But, like any good business will tell you, all 5 of our white boards full of ideas and dreams were directionless without a mission statement. A mission statement is like a well traveled sea captain who is steering the boat that is your business. Without that captain, the boat will just follow the direction of the waves instead of forging its own path. So, here we were. Our third branding meeting, ideas flying wildly and still no mission statement that truly described the new direction we were taking. All three managers and our owner sat staring at one another, just hoping for some inspiration. And then, the most important question was asked. “What is all this for?” A simple question, but the perfect one. Why does The Meeting Place on Market exist? Why do we work so hard to find the best coffee beans, constantly develop new recipes, and put so much time and effort into the way our gift boxes are designed? Connection. In a world that is so often divided for any number of reasons, we want to create connection.
But we aren’t superheroes. We aren’t politicians or policy makers. We can’t fix the problems of the world. We know coffee. We know baked goods. We know how to make a gift received in the mail feel like love. And that? That is when the mission statement came together. We want to connect people in the best way we know how. By using the expert knowledge we’ve acquired in coffee, gifts and baked goods. A sigh of relief went up around the room. We had our mission statement. And it has guided every decision we’ve made since. When we design new gift boxes, we do it with the sole intention of connecting people in a way that may not have previously been possible. An excellent example of this is our line of virtual meeting boxes. So many meetings have moved to Zoom during this time, for the safety of everyone. But there’s something lost when you’re just talking to each other through a screen. With our virtual meeting boxes, that connection returns by sharing a cup of coffee and some snacks with your coworkers.
We even went so far as to design a coworking space for individuals who work from home or work alone. Working alone on a consistent basis is incredibly challenging and has a tendency to kill creativity and work drive. Especially during these times where interactions with people are even more rare than before COVID19, it's important to have a space where you can work on your own while still being with others. Called "The Coworking Center," individuals can rent a desk or office for an hour, day, week, or longer. Whatever will best suit their needs. Ideas, creative problem solving and work productivity increase dramatically when there are other people nearby with whom you can bounce ideas, talk and laugh, and connect.
Connection. It’s the most important thing this world needs right now. And it’s what we offer at The Meeting Place on Market
