West Chester coffee shop owners say community is at heart of business

Biggby Coffee West Chester opened in April 2022.
Kim and Eric Dozier opened Biggby Coffee West Chester in April 2022. CONTRIBUTED

Kim and Eric Dozier opened Biggby Coffee West Chester in April 2022. CONTRIBUTED

Owning a business is an idea many people float around, but a husband and wife team, Kim and Eric Dozier, made good on that idea. Both came from a healthcare background, but they recently made the leap and, for the past six months, have owned Biggby Coffee West Chester.

Neither of the Doziers had any experience with owning a small business — Kim is an occupational therapist and Eric is an RN — but they had always dreamed about it. Both love coffee, especially Eric, a night-shift nurse, so a coffee shop was a natural choice, and the philosophy of Biggby Coffee — to love people and to share great coffee — is what sold it for them.

“When you visit a Biggby Coffee shop, you see these values in action every day, by the excellent customer service your receive, consistent and delicious drinks and food that are hand crafted,” Kim Dozier said. “You can’t help but leave Biggby in a better mood than when you came in. Plus, Biggby Coffee is committed to sharing love by being an active part of the community,” she said.

“Not only does Biggby provide a great gathering space for community members, but you will also see Biggby baristas, managers and owner/operators outside of the coffeeshop engaged in community events. This is what drew me into this coffee franchise, the opportunity to share great coffee while also serving the community,” Kim Dozier said.

Becoming a franchisee starts with making contact with a local area representative — Shanna Novosel, in this case. The Doziers participated in a Zoom meeting with Biggby Coffee co-founders Bob Fish and Mike McFall, to learn more about the franchise.

“There is also the opportunity to participate in a Discovery Day where you get more in-depth information about the franchise,” Kim Dozier said. “From there, you meet with the AR in person to ask questions and further discuss the decision to become a franchisee and if the decision seems right for you, you sign a franchise agreement to become a franchisee.”

The couple opened Biggby Coffee West Chester on April 19, 2022. Getting the hang of owning a business was a learning curve for the Doziers, but they are grateful to have the support of the home office, the local area representative, and other franchisees. Beyond the expected difficulties of balancing work and family (they have three children, ages 4, and 3 months) and the amount of time owning a business takes up, especially in the early stages, they have had to learn to fix their equipment.

“Now that our coffee shop is six months old, some of our equipment needs maintenance and Eric and I aren’t very maintenance savvy,” Kim said.

The Doziers said their favorite thing about owning the business is being able to engage with and raise funds for the community. Biggby Coffee West Chester has raised money for Reach Out Lakota, Animal Friends Humane Society and Honks for Jason, and they sponsor teams at the Pisgah Youth Organization.

Kim Dozier has even been known to show up at games and give out free coffee to spectators.

“The most rewarding part of owning this business is seeing people gather at our coffee shop, for meetings, game nights, Bible studies, to work or just relax away from the kids,” Kim Dozier said. “We even hosted a Princess event at the coffee shop and let little girls dressed as princesses take over the coffee shop for a few hours one Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun.”

For now, Biggby Coffee’s goals are to keep doing what they’re doing: Serving coffee (as well as tea, smoothies and energy drinks) and cementing their place in the community. They will keep hosting events.

“We will continue to make new connections with local businesses and organizations within the community to bring Biggby out of the coffee shop to serve our neighbors,” she said.


HOW TO GO

Biggby Coffee West Chester is located at 9433A Cincinnati Columbus Road in West Chester Twp.

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