The tres amigas!

Bud Patterson
Posted 3/3/17

22 years of Java Jar

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The tres amigas!

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TORRINGTON – The story of the three friends who started the Java Jar 22 years ago, and continue to operate it today, has all the makings of  a Hollywood feel good movie. The three women, Julie Haught, Kris Brooks and Patty Harmon turned on its head one of the oldest rules of entrepreneurship , “Don’t go into business with your friends or family,” and made the Java Jar one of the most iconic gathering places in southeast Wyoming. But according to Harmon, their dream didn’t start out to open a coffee shop.
“We wanted to open a craft store,” she said. “We are all pretty artsy-crafty but it didn’t turn out like we planned.”
Harmon and Haught’s kids are about the same age and they travelled to the kids baseball games together and the three friends played coed softball together, though not always on the
same team.
“We were at a baseball game together in Nebraska,” explained Haught. “Between games we went into a little coffee shop and thought ‘we could do this.’”
“We were going to have a little shop where we could sell out crafts and serve coffee,” added Harmon. “My husband’s been moving the same boxes of crafts around our house for 20 years now. We still talk about having a little spot to sell crafts.”
For almost 20 years the original Java Jar was located was one block south of where they are now on 21st and Main, until Goshen County Economic Development Company started remodeling the building where The Clothing Store had hung out its sign. The move has paid big dividends for the trio.

“This all just fell into place with economic development,” said Harmon about the move. “But this has been a great move. Sitting and looking out the windows gives this the feel of a big city bistro. Its clean and open and very light.”
When they first opened the doors they served 10 different flavors of coffee, now its over 50 and many of those can be ordered sugar free. And thought they serve soup and sandwiches at lunch, what they are noted for is their salads.
“We have one special a day,” explained Haught. “And we try different things until we find the one that works. But our Chinese Chicken Salad is by far the most favorite dish.
“In a salad competition in Casper a few years ago, our salad was named as one of the top five salads in the state.”
The move to 21st and Main has done more than just add more seating, big windows and natural lighting, there has also been a shift in the clientele.
“Most of our clientele has been female,” said Brooks. “But since the move our male base has expanded by 30 percent. That has been a nice change to see.”
The partners are quick to add that the success of the Java Jar is in large part to the help they have had over the years.
“We have had great employees over the years and without them the Java Jar wouldn’t be what it is,” said Brooks. “They are a big reason were able to move and expand. They deserve a lot of thanks.”
Currently they have 6 employees, but in the summer they’ll add three more. In the 20-plus years the doors have been open, they figure they have had 50 to 60 different employees, many of them students, but all of them, except for one last summer, were women.
“We haven’t had many male applicants,” deadpanned Brooks. “But the one we had last summer was good, but I think he moved to Nebraska so I doubt he’s back this summer.”
The friends are always looking for new things to add to the menu and this summer is no different. So take note connoisseurs of small town cuisines, the Java Jar has added the Pièce De Résistance to this years summer menu.
“We got the ice cream freezer from Radio Shack when it closed and it’s been sitting in my garage ever since,” Harmon said. “We are always talking about getting it out but we’re not sure where we could put it.”
The freezer will hold six, three gallon buckets of ice cream and when pressed about getting it out of mothballs, they hesitate for a second and announce, “We will have ice cream this summer.”
It’s a promise we all need to hold them too.