Coffee Times first launched on Regency Road in July of 1983, coinciding with the inauguration of Lexington Coffee & Tea Co. We were a much smaller coffee business at the time, with only 15 seats and 15 different Country of Origin coffees as well as three different flavored coffees. We were inexperienced and immature, but we were committed to our cause. It’s worth noting that we wanted to partner with Lexington Coffee and Tea Co., which the owner established in her garage in 1981.
She understood that combining the two into a single framework would benefit them both. Because the Lexington Coffee & Tea roasting operation was not exposed to the public, Coffee Times provided an ideal “front” (visit Lexington Coffee & Tea for their back story). The disadvantage was the site; because roasting was considered light industrial, they were forced to locate in an I-1 zone, which was an unappealing place for retail. It was a trade-off that took longer to pay off in the long run, but it was well worth it.
In 1990, Coffee Times quadrupled our seating capacity to 60 people and increased our coffee selection to over 90, all while expanding our shop space. The shop was full of teenagers and their parents looking for a pleasant place to fit in, a place to meet friends and be noticed throughout the 1990s. Coffee Times grew up in a fantastic, one-of-a-kind era. While the coffee house continues to evolve with the times, it still offers the same warm and friendly environment, coffee blends, and specialty drinks that it was built on.
