Blog About Community & Coffee » employees

The Meeting Place Gets an Extreme Makeover!

Jennifer Brogee — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:09:07 +0000

One evening in March, the employees of The Meeting Place on Market were chatting. They had some ideas to make the coffee shop better. They wanted to give it an Extreme Makeover.

The employees starting moving around the furniture. You see, they knew that owner #1 and owner #2 were out of state for the weekend. They knew that owner #3 was working his second job. They knew that owner #4 was home with her three little kids, and probably wouldn’t be in that night. So they thought they could re-arrange everything – just for the night – and put it back before any of the owners stopped by. Well, owner #4 decided to drag her kids in for a smoothie. Surprise!

But owner #4 thought some of the changes were good. So, they all brainstormed together and came up with some even wilder ideas that involved a drill, some hardware, brawn and some paint. The employees volunteered to show up bright & early on a Sunday morning to implement the changes. And so they did! In a few short hours, they moved the booths out of the pub and against the Meeting Room wall. They moved the large tables into the pub to create a kind of meeting space. They moved the couch and book shelves into the front “Family Room” to create a comfortable hanging out space. And they put the coffee shelves up onto the Terrace.

Together we re-painted the pub (ok, so I’m owner #4 – owners #1 & 2 helped too), organized the tables, re-arranged the current artist’s artwork, and added some shelving for our bakery items. By 6 pm on Sunday, we were done! Below are photos of the makeover.

Thank you to Stephanie, Brandon, Eric, and Brandi who designed and implemented the makeover! We love it!

New paint and large tables in the “pub”

Booths over by the West Street entrace

Coffee shelves in the Terrace

New comfortable couch and game area facing Market Street

View Complete Slideshow (28 Pictures)

Meet Ashley

mommychina — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:04:51 +0000

In a second installment of our series highlighting our five year or more veteran employees, we’d like to introduce Ashley Stump, who, like Elaine, has been here since the beginning.

Ashley had previously worked with Mtg. Place manager Kevin Brogee at Allan Nott, and when he offered her a position at his new business, she thought it sounded like a fun and interesting opportunity. Ashley has become indispensable over the years, and knows how to do just about everything around here. In fact, she is currently overseeing the new Meeting Place kiosk at the Heart Institute!

Ashley’s favorite memory is of our five year anniversary party last year, and her favorite menu item is the Mediterranean Salad.

We want to thank Ashley for all the different roles she has filled over the years, and all the new employees she has helped to train! From doing the schedule to inventing delicious weekly specials to handling the ordering, you have remained an invaluable member of The Meeting Place family!

Spotlight On Elaine!

mommychina — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:03:18 +0000

We’ll be running a series for the next couple of weeks highlighting those employees who have been with The Meeting Place for five years or more. Our first victimcelebrity is Elaine McCormack!

Elaine has been with us right from the start. She had worked with Greg and Ruth Ann in different business ventures previously, and was excited to be involved with this newest enterprise. She felt Lima really needed a local coffeehouse environment such as The Meeting Place hoped to provide. Of course, no one knew at the beginning that we would expand to have a bustling lunch and catering business as well!

Elaine’s favorite memory is the time that the staff secretly “surprised” die hard OSU fan Kevin by decorating his office in Michigan paraphernalia! (This is probably NOT Kevin’s fondest memory.) Her favorite menu item is the salad trio, and her favorite beverage is the classic cappuccino, which she enjoys daily.

Everyone at The Meeting Place, staff and customer alike, appreciates Elaine’s creativity, attention to detail and quality control, and enthusiasm for our business and for downtown Lima in general! Thanks, Elaine, for sticking with us and making The Meeting Place on Market a better and (more fun!) place to work and eat!