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December 02, 2004
Shout out to Jump'n Java
I have been going to Jump'n Java Cafe lately due to its close proximity to Raleigh, Durham, and Research Triangle Park, here in North Carolina. I live in Raleigh but am often in need of a good in-between place to meet with colleagues and clients. What keeps me going back to Jump'n Java is above and beyond a convenient location.
They have great coffee, and the other beverages that I haven't yet sampled sound good too. They have fresh focaccia bread with a tasty choice of sandwich options. They even have free wifi - so if I get there early I can catch up on my laptop.
But most of all they have a great sense of service as exhibited by owner Kimberly McGowan. She's always been friendly but I didn't know her name and she didn't know mine. Yesterday she was in the right place at the right time.
I've held meetings with different people at the cafe several times in the last few weeks, but had not taken note of the operating hours. This time I had arranged to meet a group of independent business owners for a management roundtable at 4 p.m.. I got there at 3:58 and found a distinct lack of cars in the shopping center's parking lot. It was then that I found out that the cafe closes at 3:30. The shopping center is predominantly populated by restaurants , but I had never caught on to the fact that most of the activity there happens around the breakfast/lunch hours. As the group gathered, my convenient meeting place was looking like a bust, and we began trying to figure out where we could reconvene close by. Kimberly noticed us in the parking lot, and invited us to come on in even though she was "officially" closed. We didn't have to relocate and we had the place to ourselves! She graciously welcomed us in, took our drink orders, and we got down to work. Jim quite wisely recognized that Kimberly might be interested in our discussion as yet another independent business owner, and invited her to join us. So now we have a new friend, possibly an expanded group, and we still have a convenient place to meet.
Thanks Kimberly! Y'all stop in and see her!
Posted by Mary at December 2, 2004 11:39 AM