Exploring Grand Junction’s New Coffee and Beer House

A look into the Colorado Coffee and Beer House

Story By: Katie Shepherd, Sacred Spaces Editor

Photos By: Stone Quinn

Amanda Ferguson owns Colorado Craft Coffee and Beer House with her husband, James Ferguson at 1144 N. 12th St. Their mission statement is to “Work hard. Be nice. Find a way.”

The Ferguson’s are both natives to Colorado.

According to Amanda Ferguson, they are both “Essentially born and raised in Grand Junction, and have always just really liked the area.”

This is not their first time in the business either. James Ferguson used to run all three branches of Talon Winery, which would cause him to travel all across the state. The Fergusons have always had a heart for local brands and businesses, even while running the winery.

“In our travels of working with a winery, we have really always selected local businesses to visit,” Amanda Ferguson said. “Local wineries, local coffee houses, and only visit local.”

It even helped to inspire how they run their own business now.

“It really was inspiring to us that when we were looking to do our own thing that we thought it would be a great way to showcase what the state has to offer,” Amanda Furgeson said.

They only carry local coffees and beers, from the state of Colorado, although they are always changing up which coffees and beers they are serving. They have product from Telluride, Steamboat, Colorado Springs, all across the state.

  “The idea is that you go visit of those locations, you can say, ‘Oh, I’ve tried you in Junction and I know you have so much else to offer.’” Amanda Ferguson said.

The snacks that they carry are also local to the Grand Junction area. They even sell cookies from a local business called Trail Cookies, run by a woman named Desi.

“Every week, we order 27,” Amanda Ferguson said. “And the longest that they’ve ever lasted is 48 hours. They’re phenomenal, we often say that they’re life changing.”

However, running your own business is not always easy.

“I think that one of the biggest challenges that we’ve had is that there’s kind of no flow,” Amanda Ferguson said. “It’s really just learning the ins and outs of running a business. There’s no pattern.”

They are also figuring out what the community wants and what they are needing from them.

“It’s really just learning what the public wants, what people need, and to be supportive of our community,” Amanda Ferguson said.

Community is a big deal to the Fergusons, and they have been pretty involved with it ever since they have opened. They have gotten to meet and connect with a lot of people through this business.

“We’ve had a great opportunity to meet so many local people.” Amanda Ferguson said. “And they’ve been very, very supportive of what we’ve done.”

Making sure that these people are connecting as well has also been very important to the Fergusons. They want to be sure that they are connecting with customers.

“If there is something that we can do to make your experience better, we want to know about it,” Amanda Ferguson said.

They also host events to help with their community. Trivia is hosted on Friday nights, starting at 6:30 p.m. for teams of two to three. There are also Board Game Saturdays, where they encourage people to bring their board games or puzzles, or to play one off of their shelf. They also encourage outside food. They want this to be a safe place for people to come hang out and enjoy themselves.

“You can get coffee anywhere,” Amada Ferguson said. “You can get beer at a lot of different places, but we want you to come in and have an experience at our place.”