This week ...
Place: Forza Coffee - Puyallup
Opened: Dec. 8, 2006
Nickname: P-Town Forza
Staff: 13 peeps, average age 21, average height 5 feet 9 inches
Franchise owners: Bryan Reynolds and family
Drive-thru: No
Store sales ranking: #1 out of 25 total stores
Most drinks made by one employee in one hour: 174
Busiest day of the year: Puyallup Santa Parade
Caffeinated drink challenge: The Happy Trail
Total number of innuendos made during conversation: 16
Percentage of conversation actually relevant to coffee: 2 percent
The doors open at P-Town Forza and immediately loud, welcoming voices holler greetings to customers - most of them by name. Deliberately overstaffed, every team member at the Puyallup Forza has a place and position. Cups go flying, a sort of Forza-ese occurs and before you know it you're handed a hot cup o' Joe and given some ridiculous (yet endearing) nickname which they will totally remember to call you upon return to their store. And trust me, you will return.
"The success of this store is about the people. It's as much theirs as it is mine," owner Bryan Reynolds admits.
Not only is every female on staff utterly charming, but their male counterparts are just as lovable. Reynolds recruits employees mainly based on personality, and they have stories to tell as they gather around Reynolds and me during our giddy conversation. Take for instance Jonathan Angle, of '80s cover band D'Elegance, Jason Jones (single, 6 feet tall and made of 220 pounds lean muscle mass - hello, ladies!) and Alex Marden who did not "gather ‘round", but instead continued to work while heckling us from behind the espresso machine. All had me in stitches with random, hilarious footnotes. I think I either impressed or scared them with my ability to turn almost anything into an innuendo.
Before leaving my newfound friends, I insisted Reynolds re-instate his infamous $10 drink challenge called "The Happy Trail." In order to complete said challenge, you must drink in one fell swoop: one single shot of espresso, one 10-ounce drip coffee with cream and sugar and one Tahitian Sunrise, which consists of one Full Throttle energy drink and many pumps of flavored syrup.
Once again I encourage you to partake in a gluttonous dietary feat strictly for my entertainment. Let me know when you're going to reach your happy trail at P-Town Forza and I'll be there with camera in hand.
[Forza Coffee,210 West Pioneer # 101, Puyallup, 253.435.6087]
Other "Person, Place or Thing" columns ...
LINK: Spartacus T. Ladle of Infinite Soups
LINK: Louie G's Pizzeria "Little Italy" Pizza Challenge
LINK: Aaron Tumale, dough-tosser at The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits