How online orders and cookie dough are helping Scout Coffee keep its doors open in SLO
It’s no secret now is a difficult time for local businesses.
With the coronavirus outbreak forcing everyone to stay at home and away from traditional shopping or dining-out establishments, a number of San Luis Obispo County businesses have been forced to adapt if they hope to survive.
This story is part of an ongoing series looking at how businesses are coping and what you can do to support them.
Do you have suggestions for businesses that are doing exceptional things during the outbreak? Ones that you think should be highlighted? Let us know! Send your suggestions to reporter Nick Wilson at nwilson@thetribunenews.com, and help The Tribune spotlight local businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Scout Coffee Co.
Location: 880 Foothill Blvd., San Luis Obispo
Website: https://scoutcoffeeco.com/
When the coronavirus outbreak hit San Luis Obispo, the owners of Scout Coffee Co. were faced with a hard reality — they would need to adapt quickly to survive the new situation.
But they accepted the challenge, moving their ordering system online within days and offering a range of new food items, including frozen versions of bakery favorites.
“This takes you back to opening a business,” said Sara Peterson, who co-owns the coffee shop with her husband, Jon. “It’s time to get, like, scrappy again.”
The Petersons closed both Scout locations after San Luis Obispo County issued it shelter-at-home order — they normally operate a shop downtown on Garden Street and another near Cal Poly on Foothill Boulevard.
After taking some time to regroup, they launched an online ordering system and a pickup window at their Foothill location, which has roll-up doors and ample parking. The shop is now open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
“We are going to use this turmoil to fuel our creativity,” Scout’s Instagram page read on March 18.
Since then, the Petersons have used this time to launch new items they’d been planning for some time but hadn’t gotten around to implementing. Scout is now offering frozen packs of dough for its “Scouties,” or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and multiple flavors of scones, which customers can take home and bake.
The shop is also serving up fresh waffles, chia pudding, avocado toast and buttermilk biscuits with salted honey butter and jam. In addition, Scout is selling packs with combinations of coffee, mugs, frozen cookies and ingredients to make drinks at home.
Scout roasts its own coffee through HoneyCo Coffee Roasters, another arm of the business. Peterson said kilos of coffee, or 2.2-pound bags, have been especially popular for people who don’t want to continually venture out to get their caffeine fixes.
Although Scout has received community support, it’s still a tough time for the business, which has had to lay off employees. But finding new ways to serve customers is allowing the shop to ride out the economic uncertainty.
“We just have to keep being creative and keep getting sales,” Peterson said.
She said the Scout team is happy to still be working and helping customers as they take the situation day by day.
“It kind of feels like our place in the community to keep serving the sunshine,” Peterson said.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 5:15 AM.
