Our Story.
It all began with Kenzie.
Makenzie Aney is the inspiration behind Kenzie’s Be Cafe. Makenzie or Kenzie was born 13 weeks premature with cerebral palsy. She was the length of a $1 bill and in the hospital for 12 weeks. Today, she is a strong, spunky young woman and has recently graduated from Mona Shores High School.
Erin Lyon, Kenzie’s aunt, has always been inspired by Kenzie’s spirit. Erin owned and operated Jumpin Java in downtown Grand Haven for 9 years.
In March of 2021 she was approached by Bob & Bobbi Sabine about opening up another location on Grand Haven’s east side. Erin saw the potential to give back in this location and immediately set up a meeting with Brody’s Be Cafe. In April, she pitched her idea for a different kind of cafe, to Bob and Bobbi and they were excited and supportive having had a family member who could have benefited from a place like Kenzie’s.
In May 2021, the initial Board was created, the 501(c)(3) paperwork filed, and fundraising kicked off. The original opening date was planned for May 2022, but with Covid in full swing during renovations we ran into supply chain issues and delays due to sickness. This allowed us more time to fundraise, so we were able to open with no debt. We took control of the building on October 17th, and started moving in. Within the first two weeks we started training our BEristas and opened the doors to customer.
The Crescent Theater
The theater was constructed in 1928, and the first film shown there was “Home, James” featuring Laura La Plante. Admission was 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children. It closed in 1939, a victim of the Great Depression. A series of businesses later occupied the building, changing the original façade and interior layout through the years.
Longtime Grand Haven residents, Bob & Bobbi Sabine, purchased the building with the intention of restoring the interior and facade to its original appearance. The Sabine’s also envisioned a coffee shop opening up on the main floor of what was the lobby of the former theater.
The Sabine’s reached out to Erin, and they worked together to build out the cafe inside the historic building.
“We’re excited to work with Erin. She is a person who gives all to the community and is recognized as someone who cares for the community. This is something that is needed, from our perspective.”
Opening the Cafe
We officially moved into our space on October 17, 2022. It was just the managers and our ED that first week. We spent that first week, getting all of the inventory set up, the space cleaned and organized, and preparing to invite our BEristas to their first day of work.
On October 24th we welcomed our first 12 BEristas followed by another group on the 25th. Each set of employees worked two, 3 hours shifts learning how to make drinks, use the register, and getting acquainted with their new work environment. We were not officially open during this time, but if customers came through the doors, we served them. For our work to be successful we need customers to come through the door.
We had our soft launch Monday, October 31, 2022! That first week was so much fun. The butterflies of something new and big that would benefit our entire community had finally started.