Conscious Cup Price Hike Doesn't Sway Customers

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — A popular suburban coffee shop is continuing to receive support from the community even after a price hike. Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters, like many businesses, is facing a hard hit to its revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent weeks, management of Conscious Cup, which runs coffees shops in Crystal Lake, Cary, Barrington and Libertyville, made the decision to increase the cost of all its menu item by 7 percent — the first time the business has upped its prices in two years, Conscious Cup Owner Michael Shipley told Patch.

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After making the decision, and before updating the prices on its menus, Shipley took to Facebook to let its customers know.

"We are grateful that we continue to operate and earn your business. It has reminded us how important all of these individual relationships and experiences can be. How important coffee can be. We know how lucky we are and we believe we will make it through this," according to the Facebook post.

Shipley said the decision to share the Facebook post goes along with his overall goal of keeping the company transparent.

"I believe that people want the businesses and the brands that they support to just be honest and true to their character. We try to be authentic. And this is a decision we wanted to share our thought process with people," said Shipley shortly after the Facebook post went live. "Most people will understand. Some will not. Some may not visit as much. A few may not come back. I know that a lot of people are hurting right now."

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But three weeks after the price increase, Shipley said the community has been "really supportive," and there hasn't much negative feedback. Many responding to the Facebook post commended Conscious Cup for being open and honest, while others insisted they would continue to buy the coffee even with a price increase.

"In the end, we had to make the change for the health of the business and we just feel a lot more comfortable about it being transparent with people," Shipley said.

Sluggish Business: Conscious Cup Sees Hit To Revenue

In the first weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered businesses closed amid continued concerns over the spread of COVID-19, Conscious Cup saw a 70 percent drop in retail and in-store revenue, and its wholesale and catering income dropped to almost zero.

Initially, the business was only able to operate its Crystal Lake drive-thru, but eventually began to increase business with phone-in and mobile orders before then opening a walk-in counter service. Once the state entered Phase 4, Conscious Cup reopened its seating area.

"We've bounced back significantly on the retail front, a little bit on the wholesale, and, understandably, nothing in catering. It was our original store, and our longtime customers and friends who kept us operating in those first weeks," according to Shipley. "We've tried to stay light and creative and safe over these past months."

Sales remain substantially lower than pre-COVID times, he said, but Conscious Cup continues to earn enough revenue to keep going, which has allowed the coffee shop to keep its staff and find some stability even with depressed sales.

"We expect slow and mitigated service well into 2021 and we're trying to manage as smart as we can to mitigate losses in the near term so that we can return to growth in the long-term," he said. "The situation is not good, but we are managing it the best that we can."