Murray Street Coffee, a Deep Ellum Staple, Was Saved by its Customers, but for How Long?

By Scott Reitz Tue., Nov. 11 2014 at 6:00 AM

And you can keep on tipping.

Last week, Doug and Liz Davis posted a message to their Facebook feed. Their landlord had come to collect on debts the Davises had owed for years, and the time line was short. If the Davises didn't write up a check for more than $10,000, their beloved coffee shop, Murray Street Coffee, would be permanently shuttered the following Monday.

The post pleaded to longtime customers and anyone willing to listen, and set out to raise the funds through donations. There was a Tilt campaign set up by friends and customers could purchase of gift cards for coffee. It only took three days and they hit their goal -- Murray Street will live. But what lies ahead for the small Deep Ellum Coffee shop recently delivered from financial woes?

Doug says they've gone through a number of changes over the nearly 10 years the shop has been open. The shop used to be open on Sunday's, offered The New York Times, and other periodicals. They had DJs spin on the weekends and sold beer. None of these measures drew customers, though, and there were eventually phased out.

A lot has changed in the years since Murray Street opened, though, and Davis admits it could be time to revisit those old practices. The Wild Detectives hosts multiple events weekly, for instance, which have proven to draw customers. "If we need to revisit some of those past practices to appeal to a changing neighborhood, we can do that," Doug says.

The Davises are also looking at their equipment. A refrigerator was recently replaced, but "our espresso machine is getting tired," Doug says. He admits they won't be purchasing one of the $20,000 machines you see at many modern coffee houses, but they're going to work to purchase something that will let them "deliver the best possible product."

Really, the Davises don't want to change very much because they feel they've become an integral part of the neighborhood just as they are. Changing to court new customers could alienate existing ones leaving them further behind. Besides, their shop has been operating in the black for the past few years. The debt they recently paid off was accrued years ago.

So it looks like Murray Street Coffee won't be changing much at all. You can expect the same quirky coffee chop, with the same delicious turkey sandwiches and the same weird bunch of Deep Ellum customers you've gotten to know in the past.

Oh, and you can also be sure you won't ever be judged for your requests for sugar or cream.

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Murray Street Coffee Shop

103 Murray St., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

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Chasd00

Hot chocolate with a shot of something cheap for $5. I bet they'd sell a lot and the margin would be fairly high.

Guesty

If I understand correctly, they got back to even by selling gift cards. This is going to hurt them in the coming months. In effect, they borrowed a portion of the next few month's revenue to retire their prior obligations. As a result, they must still replace all those gift-card sales with new paying customers to pay for the cost of the coffee, etc. that will be purchased with gift cards and they still would need even more new customers to maintain whatever profit they normally were able to make. That is a tall order.

fixienodickie

I guess they live to close another day.

DarrenG

I love the Davises and Murray Street. Been in dozens of times and they've created such a kickass place.

Perhaps they should get some help from a Good Samaritan/patron who's financially or business savvy. There's several little things they could improve based on my observations from the peanut gallery.

- They seemingly buy everything from Central Market. For example their delicious sandwiches (of which I've had 30 times at least) and the pesto they use. It's just the expensive pesto from a jar from CM. Probably $5-6. This could be made for pennies and increase margins. Other small ingredients could be done same way.

- Beer: stays good for months if not a year+. Crazy high margins, buy from a distributor.

- sell t-shirts. get a local designer to come up with some cool shirts, sell them for $18-25. Decent margins. Requires some capital up front, yes. But still a good move.

- sell local artwork on consignment. Not $500 photographs or $1200 paintings, but cool stuff people from the neighborhood and visitors will enjoy and want to buy.

- open on Sundays. Deep Ellum is awakening and I'd bet it can handle it.

-Nighttime poetry/book readings? Trivia? Genre nights like Walking Dead parties, Graphic Novel get-togethers, Sunday D&D upstairs? Idk. Ideas, throw them against the wall.

- Get some fun pre-post theater offerings in alignment with UnderMain? Pre-theater bowl of chili, post-theater pie and coffee? Both food items keep well and can make great margins on.

There's plenty written about how small, independent coffeeshops are barely able to survive. Whether it's in TX, Brooklyn or elsewhere. It's hard. I just hope they can hang on and create subsistence.

tb00

Yeah. It's a great place. But I wish they still sold beer.

amoa_inspace

@Guesty Exactly. People redeeming the cards will not pay cash, because cash was already paid. Yet inventory will decrease upon the "sale", and have to be replaced with cash. So hopefully many do not redeem around the same time, or at all.

monstruss

@Guesty The People buying gift cards look as it as more of an investment.

RedWolfeXR

@DarrenG Sorry, beer does NOT stay good for anywhere close to a year. At least any decent beer. That said I really doubt there would be enough volume for taps -- unless its a single tap of one of the local microbrews. Bottles and cans DO keep pretty well. Its just whether they can sell enough to pay for their license and the extended working hours.

I always liked MSCC, but they were always a morning place and I work nights. In the afternoon/evening when I was wanting coffee they weren't open. :(