PORTLAND, Ore. — A coffee shop that has been a staple in the Portland metro area for decades is in danger of closing its doors.
Jim and Patty Roberts opened their shop, fittingly named Jim & Patty's Coffee, in 2002. But their legacy stretches back nearly five decades before that.
The couple established their first coffee shop in Portland, called The Coffee Man, in 1976. It went on to evolve into Coffee People in 1983, and expanded to 25 stores around the Portland area and several locations in Eugene. Jim and Patty Roberts also opened Motor Moka in 1990, one of the first espresso drive-throughs in the U.S. They eventually sold their shares of the business and pursued other ventures, but found their way back to the world of coffee and opened Jim & Patty's.
Now the longtime business is asking for help after facing difficult years, with the pandemic and the death of Jim Roberts in 2023. Patty Roberts recently set up a GoFundMe for anyone who wants to help.
"The amount of debt we’ve accumulated since COVID, ever-rising costs of doing business, and the fact that Patty was mostly focused on the 24-hour care of Jim for the last couple of years rather than the business, means that we’re in trouble," the GoFundMe page says.
"We lost our beloved Jim, but his vision still guides us, and Patty is back in the stores," the GoFundMe goes on to say. "But if we can’t trim overhead and debt soon, we will be forced to close our doors."
Their goal is to raise $250,000 to "slow down the cash drain and give us a chance to make operational changes that we hope will keep us in the game."
Aside from the online fundraiser, the coffee shop has also made a number of changes including shortening their business hours from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Jim & Patty's Coffee currently has two locations: one on Southwest Canyon Road in Beaverton and the other on Northeast Fremont Street in Portland. The location on Northwest Miller Road is owned by another entity, according to the GoFundMe.