New location, same coffee

PALMER — A coffee stand that’s been in the heart of Palmer since the turn of the 21st century is changing locations, but will continue to serve coffee on Arctic Avenue in Palmer. The Brew Ha-Ha coffee stand that was previously located across from Backcountry Bike and Ski on Arctic moved down the street to 210 East Arctic Avenue on the corner of Valley Way on December 11.

A coffee stand has served that location for 20 years, but Kim Cooley and her husband Josh have run Brew Ha-Ha for six. The land that Brew Ha-Ha sits on sold this summer, and Cooley and her husband found themselves in a panic.

“Your clientele,when you’re a coffee shop, comes based on where you are — location, location, location,” Kim Cooley said.

Cooley began exploring her options and made the best out of a dire situation for her and her six full-time baristas.

“It’s kind of a when-life-gives-you-lemons, make-lemonade story,” Cooley said. “At first, we were freaking out; what are we going to do?”

Bionic Chiropractic agreed to purchase a larger coffee hut built with rocks and lease the building to Brew Ha-Ha. Though the location has changed, it remains on Arctic Avenue just a few hundred yards from the old location and still able to serve the same customers. The new building features a restroom, much to the delight of the employees, and is large enough to store all of the necessary supplies. Previously, extra cups, lids, beans and other supplies were stored in the shed next to the building. Cooley describes her husband as the ‘magical fairy’ who shops for supplies and restocks the hut overnight, helping keep the business running. Though the move was abrupt, Cooley said that she and her employees are maintaining a positive attitude.

“It’s the growing pains of a small town,” Cooley said. “This town is really changing, and if people haven’t noticed lots of things are coming in.”

Cooley said the transition has been smooth and credits her employees with maintaining relationships with customers.

“We have a fantastic staff and our staff works hard at having relationships with our customers, not just making them coffee,” Cooley said. “We also make a really good cup of coffee. We put a lot of effort into training not just coffee but relationships and connection with people.”

Brew Ha-Ha is now hooked up to city water, alleviating the hassle of having to get water pumped in and out of the hut daily. At the previous location, two exits both went out onto Arctic Avenue, which suffers the difficulty of rush hour traffic in downtown Palmer. The new location has an exit that punches out onto Blueberry Avenue next to Scrub-A-Mutt and away from the busy thoroughfare. While coffee huts are wildly popular in the Last Frontier, Cooley says that not all coffee huts compete with one another. High quality service in a key location is essential to staying in business.

“It’s not easy as a coffee hut to make it,” Cooley said.

Cooley came up with the name as a play on words six years ago, and wants her shop, which features a second location in the Optimum Performance Chiropractic building at 1030 South Colony Way, to have a name that sticks.

“Brouhaha is to make a big deal out of something small,” Cooley said. “That’s what we’re doing, a really big deal out of something as small as coffee.”