Partners in Business and Life

Partners in Business and Life

Couple works together as owners of Phoenix coffee shop

By Janet Barber

Jennifer Lancaster, left, and Linda Cohen own Perc Up Coffee Café.

Jennifer Lancaster and Linda Cohen turned their personal relationship into a business partnership when they opened Perc Up Coffee Café in central Phoenix.

The women, who have been together for four years, opened the café in September and divide the responsibilities, with Lancaster running the shop while Cohen manages the financial end of the business.

"We want Perc Up to have that community feel to it," Lancaster said. "I want this to be a place to come and hang out with friends."

Work by local artists is on display at the café. Open mic nights will be conducted for singers and poets on Wednesdays.

For the 10 different types of coffee the café serves, Lancaster said she incorporates her ethical values by using premium fair trade beans from an organization that benefits the Peruvian coffee growers.

Lancaster said she came into contact with the Peruvian coffee growers through a distribution business that she and Cohen bought together three years ago.

As part of Café Femenino, a social program for women coffee growers around the world, some of Perc Up's coffee sale proceeds are donated women's organizations.

Perc Up Coffee Cafe

Cohen's son, Will, works as Perc Up's chef. The breakfast menu includes four varieties of French Toast, including Stuffed French Toast and Almond Crusted French Toast. For lunch, there's a menu of sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads.

Lancaster, who previously owned a coffee shop in Surprise, serves as Perc Up's hostess. Cohen enjoys doing do-it-yourself experiments that have resulted in some funky finishing touches for the café, including doors she turned into tables.

Originally from upstate New York, Lancaster has lived in Phoenix for more than 30 years. Cohen is from New Jersey and has lived in Phoenix for more than 11 years. She also works at the Sojourner Center, an organization for women in abusive relationships.

"We get along so well because it helps to be in a relationship where both people listen and pay attention to the other person's needs," Lancaster said. " You have to be able to grow together."

Lancaster said that it was love at first sight when the women met at a party. Their first date was a serenaded candlelit dinner. "Even if we didn't become a couple, I wanted it to at least be a date she wouldn't forget," Lancaster said. -E

VITAL STATISTICS
Perc Up Coffee Café
2325 N. Seventh St., Phoenix
6 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday;
7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday;
8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
Open until 9:30 p.m. Wednesday for open mic nights.
602-218-6646; www.percupcoffee.com