‘I’m tired’: 11-year Local business owner talks decision to sell eatery

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —A local business owner has decided it’s time to move on, after over a decade of building a brand well established in Fort St. John

In a Facebook post on April 10th, Cool Beans Café owner Andre Bennett announced the business to be for sale, noting the chance to take on ownership is “a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about coffee, community, and continuing something that’s already well-established.”

Talking to Energeticcity.ca, Bennett recalled he didn’t know much about coffee before getting involved in the business.

“Cool beans started out pretty much a fluke [or a] fell into my lap [type of] situation,” said Bennett. 

“Patch Java was operating here. I was working at the B.C government oil and gas commission. I was looking to leave because there was some friction [at the time].”

Bennett explained he had an established friendship with the owners of Patch Java, who asked if he’d consider buying the business. 

Bennett said the ownership came back “a couple of times” before he decided to buy Patch Java’s assets and establish Cool Beans Café, located within the Fort St. John Hospital.

After leaving the commission and getting injured in the private sector, Bennett began growing his business as he described it, his “rehabilitation.”

“Again, I knew nothing about running a business,” recalls Bennett. “I didn’t know about coffee drinks. I didn’t drink coffee. I jumped into this blind, but it didn’t scare me.”

Bennett said a primary motivation to differentiate Cool Beans from other fast casual establishments was his commitment to “healthy living, healthy eating,” as the food on his menu is made fresh.

The menu includes sandwiches, hot and cold drinks, soups and wraps. Cool Beans Café also offers catering services as well.

“[A] lot of things that we put in our bodies, like fast food, it’s all crap,” said Bennett. “It’s full of excess sugar or excess this and that. I was very determined that we [were] going to cook and make everything from the ground up and make sure that the stuff that we cook is healthy.”

“We went down that path, and we just never looked back. We have had situations where people have come to us and asked, ‘can you make this?’ At one point we were offering a lot of keto choices, as people from the community told me they couldn’t find keto stuff anywhere.”

However, the 11 years in which Bennett has run Cool Beans have taken a toll. Bennett said he has worked some weeks seven days, and up to 16 hours a day while running the eatery.

“I kept the vision alive. But I’m just at the point where I’m just tired and I think I’ve built something that has some passion,” said Bennett.

“I would like to pass it on to someone who can take it on and continue what I’ve started and make it better.”

Cool Beans Café is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday to Friday in the Fort St. John Hospital at 8407 112th Avenue.
Visit Cool Beans Café’s Facebook and Instagram pages for more details or call (250) 261-6648.