We had the good fortune of connecting with Lexi Matthews and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lexi, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We both lost our jobs at the beginning of COVID in the music industry (Lexi) and as a chef (Rex) in Chicago. We were sitting around twiddling our thumbs in our tiny apartment and decided to move back to my (Lexi) hometown of Marion, IA. My parents own the building our coffee shop is in and the previous tenant has just backed out of their lease. When I first started my job at a music agency I told the interviewer, if I don’t work in music, I want to be an entrepreneur. It felt like right time, right place, and with a bit of safety net even though it was probably the worst time to open a business.

We had always loved coffee and whenever we visited a city, that is how we would tour it. By bike and coffee shop! We moved back to Iowa and opened the shop within 5 weeks. Rex used his culinary background, science brain and thirst for knowledge to learn everything we needed to know about how to properly prepare coffee and I brought my business background & entrepreneurial mindset to pull everything together. We have been growing ever since!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Business-wise we are unique because we are always looking for ways to improve and adapt. One way we did this is by creating a mobile espresso set up so that when we participate in the farmers market, we aren’t just providing drip coffee & cold brew like everyone else. We have full coffee service!

Another way we are unique is we make all of our syrups and most of our products in house. Right now, two of our seasonal syrups are rose pistachio & brown butter cardamom. House made syrups improve the quality SO MUCH & set us apart as a specialty coffee shop.

Additionally, we are a business in a business. By sharing a space we are reducing our overall cost of rent while still having a large dining room. In the morning, it’s a coffee shop. In the afternoon, it’s *magic hour* meaning it is both a coffee shop and a bar (we serve bar patrons appetizers), and in the evening it transitions over to just a bar. There is also an event space above the coffee shop / bar that we can use and provide catering for. We make every square inch work for us!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Start the day EARLY (I own a coffee shop after all) and go to the gym – Tire Trained in Marion. Progressive overload lifting and cardio. It will be sweaty!!

Go for coffee at either my own coffee shop – Uptown Coffee or one of the many other great spots: Kismet or Cafe St. Pio are some of our favorites. If you are feeling adventurous, drive to Iowa City and hit up DayDrink or Fix Coffee.

If it’s summertime: Go to yoga at Indian Creek Nature Center or NewBo City Market for free classes or hit up my favorite studio – Breathing Room Yoga on 2nd Avenue in Cedar Rapids.

Breakfast at Lucky’s in Czech Village, grab a smoothie at Nutrisport, lunch at HipStir, Dinner at Caucho or Cobble Hill, icecream at Frydae, drinks at Big Grove, and a night cap at Uptown Snug (connected to Uptown Coffee)!

In the summer, there is live music in the Uptown Artway in Marion – and the Snug back deck is the place to be.

Honestly though, I work A LOT so the places to be and things to do aren’t my expertise these days

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Paul & Jeanne Matthews, my parents – gave us the opportunity to open our business and see if we could make it work during a very hard time for small businesses. We are so grateful for the opportunity and we have learned so much in the (almost) four years since we opened.

Website: www.uptowncoffee.co

Instagram: instagram.com/uptowncoffee.co

Facebook: facebook.com/uptowncoffeecomp

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