Chris Meet Amanda & Diego Lima
Owners of Lima Coffee Roasters
Follow Lima Coffee Roasters’ Ambassador journey on Facebook & Instagram.
How have you been able to pivot/adapt your business model?
We were actually planning on opening our coffee bar in March but because of COVID-19, got pushed back and we are thankful for the delays in construction otherwise we would have opened and then had to shut down within days. Everything worked out that the Coffee Bar was ready to open when other businesses were opening back up as well. We had a lot of people think that we are crazy to open a business in the middle of a pandemic but we were certain that we wanted to offer a safe, inviting environment to our wonderful community where they can get a cup of locally roasted coffee in a spacious area. We love that Foothills Shopping center has indoor seating as well as the wonderful lawn. It’s really the perfect place to work, study and meet while adhering to social distancing rules. Even though there is a pandemic going on, it brings us Joy to see our community come together over coffee in the heart of Fort Collins.
Have you done any community/employee giving?
We have been so impressed with our community and how close we have gotten to other business owners, supporting to each other during this time. We have partnered with other local businesses such as Anellabees, Positively Plantain and Just Plain Ola to do giveaways as well as the local Life In Noco blog. These giveaways were a great way to engage our community as well as build business awareness to support each other. We also have been running a promotion to donate coffee to Hospital workers. With every purchase of our face mask, we donate a bag of coffee and have donated over 30 bags so far! We believe that our business would be nothing without our community and have been blown away by the support with our Roastery as well as our Coffee Bar that has only been open for a couple weeks now.
What do you/your business need the most to succeed right now?
Because we are a newer business, we rely a lot on the community spreading the word that we are open. We are so excited that the Foothills has dramatically gotten busier and has gone through renovations such as having new art and great seating as well as indoor and outdoor spaces. We need people to come to Foothills and just enjoy the space, even if they aren’t shopping. We also love it when people take their own pictures of the drinks and food they order and share it on their social media tagging us. Social Media platforms are so critical during these times and we love seeing our community share Lima. We will also be providing a curbside pickup option which will come handy when people don’t want to wait in line and hope that customers will use this feature as well.
What else would you like to share with the community?
We honestly just want to share how much we love Fort Collins and our community, through coffee, food and great customer service. We have raised our family here and have developed such deep with people all around our City and are so blessed to be able to open a business to serve. These times are so uncertain and we just hope to provide a place where they can feel joy and take a break through a simple cup of coffee.
What’s your favorite business in Fort Collins?
Some of the businesses we are proud to be close to are: The Crooked Cup, The Cupboard, Bindle, Edwards House, Poeme Macaron, Voltage Salon, Noco Roofing and more.
What’s your favorite thing about living/working/being in Fort Collins?
We love Fort Collins because of the diversity as well as how we are truly our own culture/ community. Amanda grew up here and Diego has lived here for over 18 years and every time we go anywhere to visit outside Fort Collins, we are so excited to come back to our city. We couldn’t think of a better place to raise our children and plant roots with our business. We love all the small business and how much the community loves to support local business owners. We depend on that support and Fort Collins has always stepped up and showed their love!
What are you most excited about being an ambassador?
We are so excited to work along other small business and to share our same love for Fort Collins with our community. We love all the stories shared on the For Fort Collins page and getting to know other small business owners through it. It’s amazing that our city would create something like this to share local businesses to strengthen our community. What an amazing way to share the heart of Fort Collins business owners and spread some light during these tough times!