Zeeland entrepreneurs invest $300K in downtown coffee shop, apartments

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

It's been a coffee shop for the last five years, but now the Sweet Bean Café will have two apartments on the second floor, bringing additional residential options to Zeeland's downtown business district. The café, 111 East Main Street, has new owners who have a vision to build on what the previous owners started.

Derek and Amanda Root jumped into the coffee shop, development, and landlord businesses with one leap. Derek, 28, quit his job at Stryker last month and got behind the coffee counter on November 1, even though he knew nothing about the restaurant business.

"Amanda worked at a coffee shop in high school," says Derek, a Holland native. "Between the two of us her experience is the only experience we have in the food and coffee industry. But the café is established and systems have been implemented. We're looking to improve on those and grow the business."

The Roots purchased the building, the business, and they retained all nine part-time employees. Those employees and the former owners, Jim and Missi Bastiaans, are helping them learn the business, including inventory and ordering.

In the meantime, construction is underway for two apartments above the shop. One, a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom unit, will be home for the Roots and their four-month-old daughter. The second apartment—1,000-square-feet, one-bedroom—is a rental and will be ready in February.

Derek estimates the total investment will run about $300,000.

"We're excited about downtown Zeeland," Derek says. "There's a rebirth of sorts going on. The city redid the streetscape a couple of years ago and they've hired a marketing coordinator, so we're excited about what they're doing."

Source: Derek Root, Sweet Bean Café; Abigail DeRoo, City of Zeeland

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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