09/05/2026
Coffee Shop Confession #5: Customer Service
As a coffee shop owner, I've noticed something lately...
Customer service seems to be going extinct.
Right up there with affordable groceries, common sense, and people who know what they want before they reach the register.
Somewhere along the way, the welcome, the smile, and the art of treating people like actual humans got replaced with blank stares and bare-minimum effort.
Now technically, customer service isn't required here at Hollydays.
We could absolutely take your order, treat you like "Customer #847 of the day", make your drink, hand it across the counter, and move right along.
But if that's all you wanted, why not just replace us with a robot?
The truth is, making coffee is the easy part.
People are the hard part.
As a coffee shop owner, I've learned a few things:
Nobody remembers the price of their drink, but everyone remembers how they were treated.
People will stand in line for ten minutes and still be shocked when it's their turn to order.
About half of our customers have their order ready before they walk in the door. The other half start their journey of self-discovery when they reach the register.
And somehow, every single person says, "I just need a little caffeine," before ordering enough espresso to power a small fishing boat.
Sometimes we mess up your drink.
Sometimes you order something you've never tried before and describe it using hand gestures, a color, and a dream.
Sometimes you ask for "that drink I got last year from the girl with the blonde hair."
And sometimes neither of us knows what's happening, but we're committed to figuring it out together.
That's where customer service comes in.
Because mistakes happen.
Orders get misunderstood.
Extra hot becomes iced.
Oat milk becomes almond milk.
Someone asks if a caramel macchiato is sweet while holding three cake pops.
Life happens.
The best moments are when everyone gives each other a little grace, laughs it off, and works together to make it right.
At Hollydays, we're not just serving what we believe is the best coffee in Washington. That's a bold statement, but after years of obsessing over beans, flavors, recipes, and every detail in between, we're comfortable saying it. If you think you've found better, let us know. We'll happily investigate the competition.
We're serving conversations.
We're serving community.
We're serving recommendations, encouragement, laughter, and occasionally talking someone out of six espresso shots before an already stressful day.
We spend countless hours learning flavor profiles, testing recipes, training our team, and perfecting drinks.
But the thing we're most proud of isn't what's in the cup.
It's the experience that comes with it.
Because anybody can make coffee.
Not everybody can remember your name, ask about your day, celebrate your wins, survive your Monday mood, and still make your drink with a smile.
And around here, that's still part of the recipe. ❤️☕
**Owner's Note: If I ever start acting like a robot behind the counter, somebody please unplug me, hand me a breakfast burrito, and remind me why we opened a coffee shop in the first place. 🤖☕😂
