A new coffee house has opened in Cookstown and the owners have a very unique business style with a goal to encourage community and conversation.
There are no prices listed on the menu, no cash register, and no catch.
Owner Josh Smith says you can order your coffee and leave your wallet in your pocket.
“Everything we have here is completely free. We accept donations, but we don’t charge for anything here. We wanted to create a place that was a blessing for our community. We want it to exist for the better of the community.”
The coffee house opened in June and come fall it will double as a church on Sunday mornings.
They plan to hold a non-denominational, non-traditional service right in the café.
“It might not look like your typical church,” says Smith. “You know, there’s not going to be someone standing there, it will just be me sitting in a chair talking for ten minutes and then we’ll have some time to chat about it afterwards.”
Smith and his wife run the shop with the help of a few volunteers. Any donations they receive help to cover the costs of the food and coffee, and as for paying the bills, Smith says “as long as we break even on that part we kind of expect to pay the rent ourselves."
The coffee house is located in downtown Cookstown and only accepts cash donations. They are open limited hours, Tuesday to Saturday, 8am to 1 p.m.
