Coffeehouse Cool: Live Jazz & Poetry

On February 27th, Beyú Caffé hosted a poetry and jazz event at the Mary Lou Williams Center on the campus of Duke University. Our goal was to provide a brief preview of future poetry and jazz performances after we open. The event was a great success, bringing in over 70 persons throughout the evening to enjoy spoken word, live jazz music, and gourmet desserts and pastries. The company would like to thank those partners who were able to make it out to the event.
We are very appreciative to the following companies and organizations for sponsoring Coffeehouse Cool:

• Duke University's Mary Lou Williams Center
• Neural 9 Studios
• Marketing Depot USA
• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Amazing Poets: Dasan, Jamilla, and Elliott
• Featured Jazz Artist: Joey Squire & Band
  

Front Cover of the Herald Sun

Beyu Caffe was recently featured as the cover story for the Herald Sun on February 7, 2009 by reporter, Monica Chen. The featured article was the first of an occasional series of stories following the entrepreneurship process of starting a business. The story generated a lot of great buzz around Durham and increased traffic to the company's website.

The link to the story has expired, but you can check out both articles below:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, February 7, 2009
"Following his dream, one bean at a time: Entrepreneur unfazed by economy"

Dorian Bolden could hardly envision what he was going to become when he graduated from Duke University.
In 2002, the alum was heading to New York to work as a financial adviser for Bank of America. Back then, according to Bolden, “to obtain monetary possessions was the only important thing in [his] life.”
But fast-forward to 2009, and Bolden’s days are filled with roasting and packing his own coffee, meeting with investors and going over marketing materials — all the footwork necessary in pursuit of his big dream. By this spring or summer, 28-year-old Bolden hopes to open Beyú Caffé — pronounced Be- You — a coffeehouse and jazz lounge.
This won’t be easy during a recession in which consumers have locked down spending, banks have tamped down on loans and news of job cuts and store closings crop up every day.
But such is the unpredictable and often inspiring journey of the entrepreneur who moves from
the corporate world into his or her own mission of opening a clothing store, or cleaning business, or grocery store — or, in Bolden’s case, a café, to bring together disparate groups of people in Durham in an appreciation of poetry, music and coffee.
“Believe in God. Be you. Be yourself,” said Bolden, summing up his personal credo.
For a year, Bolden has devoted his full attention to giving birth to Beyú, his brainchild, and it might soon come to fruition.
The son of a single mother who went to Duke University from a minority-majority high school in Atlanta, Bolden has always straddled disparate parts of a community. When he came to Durham, Bolden said it reminded him of what Atlanta used to be and what he loved
about New York.
Durham is home to a variety of people from different backgrounds and experiences, but they often do not interact, he said. Whereas some of his friends would check
out Pinhook, the new bar in downtown, others prefer to listen to jazz at the Hayti Heritage Center.
People often don’t cross color lines, he said, because they don’t know how much they have in common. Bolden hopes Beyú will be a place where people of all races and backgrounds can come together.
“There’s something special here in Durham,” he said. “Why not create a place where people can come and hang out? It’s not about color. It’s about like-minded people.”
According to his business plan, Beyú would provide coffee, espresso and various café fare like sandwiches and crepes. But it would also retail its own roasted coffees, including a signature blend called, fittingly, “Heart & Soul.” At night, it would be a venue for live jazz and poetry readings, with a wine bar and liqueur coffee cocktails.
Bolden has attracted a full slate of investors who say they are inspired by the concept. That’s no easy feat in this economy, when the stock market has wreaked havoc with many people’s savings and injected anxiety into the investment environment.
One of his investors, Wendy Noel, is a firsttime investor who hopes to own a grocery store someday. What attracted her to Beyú, Noel said, was the jazz and poetry element of the concept.
“I think a lot of businesses downtown — not necessarily by choice — tends to attract niche communities,” she said. “I think Beyú is a place that it pretty much asks for people from all different communities within Durham to come there, socialize, gather and discuss.”
The total cost of opening Beyú is estimated to be $500,000. The company is incorporated as a limited liability corporation, with half of the cost to come from private investment, and the other half from bank financing, grants and loans through the city of Durham.
Bolden is personally investing in the venture in addition to making Beyú’s brochures and other marketing materials. When the profits roll in, Bolden said the other investors will be paid first.
It’s an oft-cited figure that 90 percent of restaurants go out of business within the first year. An Ohio State University study recently tried to debunk that myth, reporting that the actual figure for independent restaurants is closer to 26 percent failing in the first year.
But Noel said she is confident Beyú will be successful.
“While it might be hard for Dorian to start up initially, it’s a business that works with a down economy,” she said. “It provides affordable food for people who want to go out but don’t want to spend a lot of money.”
Noel added that she felt comfortable investing with Bolden because of the amount of work he has already put into the business plan and the concept.
“Dorian, he knows his business very well,” she said. “He has a good blend of business savvy
and passion for what he’s doing and passion for downtown Durham.”

"Journey to Beyu has been filled with risks, bold moves"

By Monica Chen w/ The Herald Sun
For Dorian Bolden, it was a long and winding road to get to this point, when his dream to open Beyú Caffé looks like it might come true.
From 2002 to 2005, Bolden was a senior financial adviser with Bank of America Investment Services. In 2004, his father died, and the event brought great change to his life.
“I realized that tomorrow is not guaranteed,” Bolden said.
Over the course of weeks and months, Bolden looked at his life and thought about what his purpose was, what he was meant to do.
As he thought about what brings him joy, Bolden recalled Café Intermezzo, the Atlanta
café that emulates 19th century Viennese coffee culture. He also thought about the diversity of
New York, and what brings people there together.
“I thought about, ‘Where would I have fun working?’ Well, I love poetry slams. I love jazz.
Okay, why don’t I create that?” he said.
And after a vacation to Jamaica, everything fell into place.
“I saw in Jamaica the conditions that some people live in, and I realized that I have no complaints,” he said. “That’s when I realized I could do whatever I wanted to do.”
He also realized what the name of his café would be: Be yourself — Be you — Beyú Caffé.
In 2005, he quit his job at Bank of America, worked at a coffee shop in New York for some time
and then moved back to Durham to be with Taineisha Bolden, who is now his wife.
The couple is now in their second year of marriage and expecting their first child. A first-year
resident at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, Taineisha Bolden was for most of 2008 the sole
breadwinner of the family.
She admitted she had some reservations when Dorian Bolden first told her of his idea.
“When he first told me he was quitting his job to go work as a barista, I was shocked and perplexed,” she said. “But for him to own his own business fit his personality. It’s very in keeping with it, for him to be in charge.”
“I never imagined being married to someone who would start their business. Three years is not that long, but it just feels like it had taken forever for Dorian to start his business],” Bolden
added and laughed. “But the fact that things are moving, and he’s really excited, is just wonderful. I’m really anxious to see the fruits of his labor.”
In the years since Bolden came up with Beyú, he worked various jobs to learn the industry, including as a barista at Shade Tree Coffee, as a manager at Amelia Café and a cashier, then assistant manager at Panera Bread.
He learned how to make a good cup of espresso, how much food to order to ensure the optimum
stockpile at the end of the week and how many employees to keep on staff to keep up with foot traffic.
All that time, Bolden was also working on his business plan, meeting with a mentor and enlisting
the help and advice of the people he encountered. One of his proudest moments, Bolden said,
was when the regional owner of Panera complimented him on his business plan.
By 2008, Bolden felt ready to finally realize his dream and quit the assistant managing position at Panera. But the economy threw him a curveball. When Wall Street started to crash last year, all his investors fled.
But Bolden regrouped, picking up new investorsone by one. He also had to scrap previous plans
of building a stand-alone space for Beyú as a real estate investment.
“My biggest doubt came in June 2008 when the commercial development project fell through,” Bolden admitted. “But you have to say to yourself, ‘Either you’re going to do it or you’re not.’ ”
“As Bill Cosby said though, ‘Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it,’” Bolden said. “I had to tell myself, I can do it.”

Our Coffee Beans are a Mega Hit!!

Beyu Caffe has seen tremendous success over the past month from its retail coffee beans, particularly our signature blend, Heart & Soul.

(ADVERTISEMENT: Making a cup of coffee at home can save you well over $500 a year...)

Ok, back to the post. The coolest thing about coffee is that it's a combination of both science and art.

The Science: Coffee comes from bright cherry plants where a small green coffee bean is located inside. The green coffee bean must be roasted at a temperatures above 400 degrees Fahrenheit (thus giving coffee its dark brown color).

The Art: Every coffee region that produces coffee has its own distinct flavor profile. For example Latin American countries are known to be bright or acidic, African coffees tend to be earthy with a full body, and Indonesian coffees tend to be heavy with chocolate undertones. The beauty of creating a great blend comes from finding great coffee from the different coffee regions, and mixing (or blending) the right coffees together to provide a desired result.

HOW did we develop & name our signature blend?

In case you're wondering, a group of 8 to 10 people came together to try freshly roasted coffees from around the globe, all in an attempt to develop the perfect blend. After the event, a coffee lover e-mailed us to say, "I absolutely LOVE your signature blend!!! I would call it Heart & Soul, because it has touched my very heart and my soul." - Nikeasha Nunn, GlaxoSmithKline

Hence, Heart & Soul became the official name of our coffee blend.


Well...if you LOVE coffee, I truly recommend you try our signature blend via online at www.beyucaffe.com. Feel free to check out some recent comments about our signature coffee blend, Heart & Soul (and no one was asked to provide feedback; these were independent comments given after trying our coffees) =D

"[Heart & Soul] was fantastic. We used it in the office and it was a hit."
- Rodney Allison, President, Property Advisory Service

"That's the best coffee my wife and I ever had. "
- Duane Marks, Chief Operating Officer, Blue Devil Ventures

"Dorian, we have fallen in love with the Hazelnut Frangelica blend. [My husband] likes ground, I want to grind my own. So I had to buy two pounds!"
- Bridgette Webb, Manager, Quintiles Transnational Corp.

" I love [Heart & Soul]...I finally got to drink some this morning and it was fantastic. It was rich and full-bodied without being too dark."
- Mark Branly, Managing Partner, Neural 9 Studios

Without Passion, It's Just Coffee...

Beyu Caffe is featured in the Herald Sun

Looks like Beyu Caffe received a little PR attention!!! Big Thanks to Monica Chen for putting us in her weekly buzz column.

Please check out the Herald Sun article below, and thanks for all your support!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buzz: Donuts, followed by coffee, of course

Oct 11, 2008

Dunkin' update: Driving by the brand new Hope Valley Commons shopping
center the other day, Buzz noticed that the Dunkin' Donuts there has
its sign up, but is still in the midst of construction inside.

After checking in with Pete Turner, the local franchise owner, Buzz
found out the Dunkin' is nowhere near completion for this month.

Turner, who also opened the popular Dunkin' spot at Pavilion East on
Erwin Road, said opening is tentatively set for late November/early
December.

Until then, doughnuts lovers, the new Harris Teeter in the shopping
center is fully stocked.

Coffee with passion: A European-style coffee house could be opening
within the downtown loop by the spring, just in time for coffee lovers
to grab a croissant and sip on a creamy café au lait in the warm
sunshine.

That is, if Duke University alum Dorian Bolden will have anything to do with it.

Bolden, a financial adviser turned barista turned hopeful café-owner,
said this week that he is still working on signing a lease but
confirmed he is working on opening Beyú Café in the downtown loop.

Bolden also emphasized that it will be a European-style coffeehouse
that serves waffles, crepes, sandwiches, soup and dinner appetizers at
night.

"We really want to focus on the tradition of coffee, the way people
look at wine," he said.

Bolden has an interesting back story. After graduating from Duke in
2002, he said he was "hedonistic" and just wanted to make as much
money as he could.

So Bolden was in New York as a senior financial adviser for two years,
until in 2004, when two momentous events occurred in his life: His
company merged with another, and his father passed away.

"It made me realize that my life isn't guaranteed tomorrow," he said
Wednesday. "And you don't have all the security that I grew up
thinking of with corporations. I think at that time, entrepreneurship
was born in me."

Bolden hopes to model his café after Café Intermezzo in Atlanta, where
he said he felt most like himself.

"Every time I went there, it was the one place ... I could escape and
relax and be myself," Bolden said. "So 'be yourself' turned into
'Beyú.'"

That's pronounced exactly like "be you," and is just a word that
Bolden made up, accent and all.

Bolden subsequently left his job in New York, moved to North Carolina
to be with his girlfriend (now wife), and worked various jobs at local
eateries as a barista, bartender and even cashier at Panera Bread.
Along the way, he gained enough experience, he said, to feel
comfortable finally with opening his own place.

"It's been a great ride. I always believe in doing it right the first
time. We have a mantra: Without passion, it's just coffee," he said.

The café's Web site, www.beyucaffe.com, will be launched sometime
later this month.

For more information about Beyú or to share ideas on the menu, contact
Dorian at info@beyucaffe.com.

I'll be back: Buzz will be on holiday for two weeks and will return Oct. 25.

What's the Buzz? Call business writer Monica Chen at (919) 419-6636,
send a fax to (919) 419-6837 or e-mail mchen@heraldsun.com.

SEPTEMBER 2008: What An Economy!!

Since we hosted our fundraiser dinner for potential investors a month ago, we've raised close to 60% of our target investment goal from private investors. We're pulling a Michael Phelps during this last stretch... =D

Also, check out the cool support from two of Durham's most popular blogs: (1) Bull City Rising and (2) Carpe Durham
http://www.bullcityrising.com/2008/09/duke-alum-takes.html
AND
http://carpedurham.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/beyu-caffe-coming-to-downtown-durham-in-early-2009/