Success Stories

Gramps Coffee and Donuts

When did your vision for Gramps Coffee and Donuts begin? What kind of experience do you intend to create for your customers?

GRAMPS official start date was on July 6, 2021. The conception of the idea, however, started a long time before that. The Gramps story begins with owners Amy and Greg Gilmore that were born and raised in Owensboro, KY and then moved to Lexington, KY for almost 20 years. Family and their desire to gather with others was part of their DNA. While in Lexington, Greg’s dad, Dennis Gilmore, who subsequently followed to Lexington, often met at a local coffee shop. There, the original Gramps, cared for and met several groups of people that looked for community and something delicious to eat and drink. A few years later, after the family moved back to Owensboro, Dennis received news that he had cancer. At that point, Greg and Amy knew that they would follow their dream of opening a space where the community could gather in honor of Gramps, a name given by Greg and Amy’s son. Thankfully Dennis is doing well after an incredibly difficult bout with cancer and gets to be a part of this next chapter.

Looking back at your original vision for the cafe in retrospect, in what ways did your plans or expectations for running the cafe evolve through the process of working with Prima?

Honestly, even though we had a vision of what we wanted to create, we in no way had an idea of what we were doing. We loved coffee, but didn’t understand the process of making large amounts in an excellent, efficient way. Prima directed us towards the right systems and equipment to obtain our goals.

In what ways did you benefit from working with Prima through the build-out and opening process rather than doing it independently?

Prima walked with us through all of our questions. They guided us with things such as menus, purchasing the right equipment, where to place that equipment and pointing us to different coffee vendors. Without their help, we would have been walking through the process blind. Even though opening up a business for the first time can be frightening, it is reassuring when you have a company you trust giving guidance along the way.

How’s business going today?

GRAMPS has blown away any expectation that we ever had. Not only has it been a joy to work with our community, it is growing at an incredibly fast pace. Over the past few months, several people have approached us about potential franchising opportunities and we are exploring those options now. We often say that GRAMPS will provide a second home for people to experience “Alive & Kickin’” coffee and donuts in the most creative and local way possible. Our ultimate desire is that each person experiences joy from either taking a bite of a donut, sipping a hot or cold drink, or from a smiling interaction with one of our staff.

What are a couple key takeaways from your coaching sessions with Prima’s team that will have lasting value for you and your business?

Making sure you have a vision is key. Along with that, however, we have learned that you have to lean on experts like Prima to help guide and encourage you at every step of the way. Working with Prima gave us the confidence that we were going to kill it and succeed because we matched our passion and vision with a company that knew their craft and tools. We know that the team at Prima believed in us from the beginning and cheered us on as we started this life-changing journey!