Richard's Fine Coffees

Keliah Canus serves up delicious hot coffee with a smile.

Richards Fine Coffees

Celebrates 25th Anniversary

by James Coulter

What better way to start your morning than with a cup of freshly-roasted coffee and a freshly-baked pastry? While most other coffee shops and eateries expect customers to take their items and go, Richard’s Fine Coffee invites their patrons to sit back, relax, and linger awhile. After all, they’re more than customers: they’re family.

“All too often, we found that a visit to a local establishment meant you were expected to dine and depart. Turning tables and herding you through like cattle was their goal,” their website states. “We at Richard’s wanted to create an environment where time was just a distant thought. Where you could get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Drift off, if you wish, into another world.”

For many regular customers, drifting off into another world is simple. The overall laid-back environment allows them to take up a seat, either near a window or on the patio. There they can relax while taking a sip of their coffee or bite of their pastry, then tune out the real world through the white noise of the trickling fountain and with a book in hand—preferably from the library next door.

Of course, like any good coffee shop, their coffee is their biggest draw. They source as many of their beans from local roasters as possible for their coffee beverages, which range from traditional drip-coffees to specialty drinks like lattes, mochas, frappes, and kombucha. Their pastry menu has quadrupled since first opening, and now they offer a diverse selection of sandwiches and salads for breakfast and lunch.

“Today, we continue to maintain the traditional values of hard work and the attention to detail that are essential to providing coffees of distinction,” Their website states. “Where people can gather to share good conversation, good music, and great coffee, we at Richard’s hope to offer you moments in time that will not be forgotten.”

Twenty-five years ago, David Tuttle was seeking an opportunity to start a business in Polk County. He wanted to open an establishment that was genuinely new and unique to the area, something that wasn’t open or available in the county that could quickly meet high demand. An independent coffee house seemed to be the best candidate, so that’s when he decided to open Richard’s Fine Coffees.

“As we looked around at various types of food and beverage establishments, we found there was nothing that indicated or showed there was a coffee house like it in this market, so we researched coffee houses and felt this

Left to Right: Alyssa Drexel, Emily Herrman, Keliah Canuso.

was an opportunity to try it out,” he said.

Richard’s opened on June 11, 1996, as the first independent coffee house in Polk County. Their first location was in the Arcade building across the street from the Ritz Theatre. They later moved to their current location in the Winter Haven Public Library when the building first opened in 2005.

Its library location proved ideal, especially since books and coffee go well together. The coffee shop was able to draw in business from library patrons and visitors at Central Park right across the street. For many customers, no day could be more ideal than lounging upon the patio on a sunny day, taking a sip of coffee while reading a book. However, simply more than “location, location, location,” pivotal to the coffee shop’s success has undoubtedly been its customer service.

“Our customer service has been the secret to our success,” Tuttle said. “Everyone who walks in here is treated like family. Our customer services are far more important than any beverage or food item that we sell. We want you to come back in again. We want to treat you like family.”

Katie Worthington Decker, President/ CEO of the Winter Haven Chamber, visits Richard’s multiple times per week. She prefers to order a tall “dirty” chai tea latte and a pistachio muffin for breakfast or a Cuban sandwich for lunch. She considers it a hometown establishment like Cheers where everybody knows your name.

The Chamber has been associated with Richard’s ever since the coffee shop first opened. The cafe, likewise, has been involved in local events hosted by the Chamber, including Taste of Winter Haven, even when it was previously embedded within the Bankers Cup event.

Since first opening nearly a quarter-century ago, Richard’s has served as an exemplar for small businesses in Downtown Winter Haven. The coffee house took a real risk when it first opened, and that risk has allowed it to more than prove itself as a proud example for the Chamber, Worthington-Decker said.

“What makes them such an important part of the downtown business core is their engagement in the community,” she said. “It’s rare, unless he’s on a shopping run, to not get greeted by the owner himself every time you walk in. They take advantage of the active downtown core and leverage events. They also took a chance...when not many would invest in our downtown. They’ve changed locations and grown, but their goal to provide quality coffee and food remains.”

As for expectations for the future, Tuttle hopes to continue offering the same reliable quality and service with their food and beverages. After the sheer chaos from the past year during these uncertain times, he certainly hopes the world goes back to normal so people can better appreciate their normal services.

Richard’s will be celebrating their 25th year anniversary on its opening date of June 11. The celebration will include an anniversary mug giveaway to the first 100 guests and live music performed on the patio. Patrons old and new are welcomed to drop by and celebrate the occasion. Then again, customers old and new are simply invited to drop by, period.

“We just recommend that they stop by and enjoy the ambiance and the experience,” Tuttle said.

Richard’s Fine Coffees is located at the Winter Haven Public Library at 330 Avenue A NW Winter Haven, FL 33881. For more information, call 863-291-3082, or visit their website at: www.richardsfinecoffees.com