Downtown coffee clash? Not gonna happen
Mike Patrick
They’re basically across the street from each other, which might lead observers to think a coffee house war is brewing.
Steve Widmyer, Coeur d’Alene’s recently retired mayor, isn’t having any part of that discussion.
His point? It’s The Point — the name of the coffee house/grocery store/gift shop tucked neatly on the ground floor of One Lakeside in downtown Coeur d’Alene. And The Point was getting ready to open before two couples purchased nearby Calypsos and renamed it LYFE (Live Your Freedom Everyday) Coffee Roasters and Public House, so there was no scheme to compete head-on for any reason.
LYFE’s debut made the front page of The Press, in part because one of the owners has gained attention not only as a successful local entrepreneur, but as a participant in the Jan. 6 Capitol rally (but not the riot). Widmyer’s not about to jump into a political spat, let alone a highly caffeinated business brew-ha-ha.
Nor does he need to. As this issue’s article notes, Steve and Marie — with kids contributing plenty of good ideas — can more than hold their own in the retail world. While they (and LYFE) might have done better to open when tourists start flooding the Lake City, both owners flipped the OPEN switch in plenty of time to prepare for heavy traffic.
The guess here is that there’s room for both of them.
— Mike Patrick, BJNI editor
