Given that the students of Berkley live busy lives, lunch plays a key role in the break students need. Students spread to different places at lunch whether it is driving somewhere further, or walking to places such as Pita Way, Tubby’s, and Jets. With all that food, students need something to wash it down. The small businesses Coffee and Bark and Ullman’s provide the very needed tasty drinks for students. The lunch rush of Berkley High School creates good support for our small local businesses.
Both Ullmans and Coffee and Bark are located on Coolidge. The small businesses create a comfortable space for students to walk to and buy well-made drinks. Coffee and Bark’s high success among the students makes the cute cafe a perfect spot for teenagers. Sophomore Kara Schneider says, “I feel like people don’t really go [to Coffee and Bark] when it’s the summer.” CAB got really excited when students returned, and made a Berkley special which includes a free cookie with a crafted drink. Junior Delanie says that Coffee and Bark “is more advertised because a lot of people from school go there for food,” adding that coffee is popular among students. Delanie also comments that Coffee and Bark is a “hangout spot for people at school. I love doing my homework in CAB.” They serve not only tasty coffee but fruity drinks, sandwiches, and desserts. The owners created their cafe twenty years ago with a “simple cup of coffee.” Christian Kapita, a Berkley graduate, has worked there since last summer. He comments, “When Berkley students come in during lunch, there’s a line out the door.” Many students and regulars order chai, which is a fan favorite. Kapita states that working at a local business feels, “Personable. It’s more intimate, it’s not as soloist as other big corporations.” In the fall it’s the perfect time for a cup of something warm and fall themed, or as Kapita says, “Pumpkin is just attracting people.”
For the people who don’t find interest in coffee, tea from Ullmans is always an option! The small shop includes skin care, medicine, and plenty of tea. The tea-based spot is comfy and “very calming” says Junior Eleanor Baker. She says the workers are, “Very kind, and they are very suggestive. So like, if you don’t know what you want, they will come up with a list of things that would be good for your particular taste.”
Sophomore Keira Mullane comments, “They have really good customer service, and it seems that they really focus on customer needs.” The down-to-earth energy in Ullmans is contagious to everyone who walks into the quiet shop. The owner, Uli Laczkovich, created Ullmans because she wanted to create “wellness from the inside out, and from the outside in.” Laczkovich is from Germany, where she studied pharmacy work. That is where her love for wellness comes from.
Laczkovich says, “I really like when somebody comes in and says ‘I love to support small local businesses’ because that’s what we are; a small business. Since we are a small company we can quickly react to what our customers like. If I see [customers]) have a common tea I can come up with it overnight and we can have it in stock a week later.” Laczkovich explains that the “freedom to decide what to buy for customers” is one of her favorite parts of owning her own business.
