Apr. 20—PINEVILLE, Mo. — The Pineville square has a new business, a coffee shop offering that pick-me-up for early risers as they make their way to work.
But this is not your typical business startup.
River Blend Coffee is more than just a coffee shop — it's a learning lab for McDonald County High School business students, and they're learning the ins and outs of running their own business.
"We can't wait to share this exciting new venture with the community," said Kristy Gilgen, McDonald County High School business instructor. "River Blend Coffee is more than just a coffee shop — it's a symbol of what's possible when students, educators, and business leaders come together to create something truly unique and inspiring."
River Blend Coffee, located in a building at 308 Harmon St. that once housed the Pineville City Hall and now houses the McDonald County Chamber of Commerce, marked its grand opening Thursday morning.
The students running the shop held a "soft" opening about two weeks ago and had already hosted events for family and friends and a morning for Pineville-area business operators to come and see the shop.
Kasey O'Brien, president of the McDonald County Student Chamber of Commerce, said the shop is entirely student run, under the guidance of herself, Gilgen and business instructor Sherry Lemm.
The shop is open from 7 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. It has something of a limited menu of coffees and espressos, but they hope to expand on that soon with smoothies and other drinks, and possibly some breakfast and lunch pastries and sandwiches.
O'Brien said 11 McDonald County High School seniors make up the staff. One of those students, Lexie Abbott, serves as a student leader, something of a manager of the shop.
"There's a lot more to it than just pressing a button and letting the machine go," Abbott said. "I come in at 6:30 to get the machine ready, which takes about 30 minutes to get it pulling the right amount of shots at the right time. That was all new things that I had to learn. The beans too, those all have to be changed at a certain time. Airship Coffee roasts all of that, and we just buy from them."
O'Brien said the group is partnering with Airship Coffee, a popular coffee shop in Bentonville "known for its incredible flavors and quality."
"By combining the expertise of Airship Coffee with the enthusiasm and creativity of our students, we're confident t O'Brien added. "They have helped advise us on the startup, the equipment, purchases, the actual layout. They trained us as baristas and educated us on the espresso in general. That helped get the ball rolling where we were able to get the actual product and service available."