When Tarra Jack was informed she was going to be out of a job in a week-and-a-half, she was not sure where she would go.
It was divine intervention that only a couple days later, the former Pot of Coffee assistant manager heard of a building in Cassville for sale, and the Sunshine Coffeehouse plan fell into place.
Jack’s last day at Pot of Coffee was Nov. 18, 2022, and she closed on the building at 1313 Main St. on Dec. 21 — doors opened May 10 after a remodel.
“We have had such a wonderful reaction from the community, especially on the first day,” she said. “I didn’t post we were open until that morning, and to see so many people coming in with smiles and saying how much they missed us was great.”
Jack’s clientele from Pot of Coffee has returned to her at the new location, Jack said, and business has been picking up.
“I based my ordering off what I left off with at Pot of Coffee, and we were running out of items quickly,” she said. “I’ve been having to order double or triple what I was.”
Sunshine Coffeehouse is heavily focused on its main product and other drinks currently, but some food is available, and more is on the way.
“We took a lot of the same drinks from Pot of Coffee, and we kept the distributor, Mountain Bird Coffee and Tea Company in Eureka Springs, Ark.,” Jack said. “Their roaster, Jeremy Mansfield, also lives in Cassville, so we had that relationship before. All of our drinks and smoothies and fraps we brought back. Right now, we just have bagels and cream cheese and muffins, but we are going to bring back breakfast burritos and scones. We are not doing sandwiches, but we are planning to start making personal woodfire grilled pizzas by November or December, and we’re going to make biscuits and gravy.”
Jack said owning a coffee shop has been a dream of hers, and with her three sons getting older, now was the perfect time to make the dream happen.
“My kids are almost out of school, and we will stay at least until the littlest one graduates,” she said. “My older kids help, and even my youngest has been working behind the coffee bar. It’s wonderful to do it now when my kids are older and are able to get that work experience. It’s been a good family thing.”
While her immediate family is benefitting, Jack said much of the season she opened her own shop was for her other family — her customers.
“We had made so many relationships at Pot of Coffee, and we didn’t want to see that go,” she said. “We know people by their drinks, and when we opened here, a lot of those customers came back. Being able to remember people by their drinks even six months later has been amazing. And our customers are totally supportive and didn’t care we were still working on renovations. We had major support from our customer base.”
Those renovations came over a period of five months and with many helping hands.
“It all fell together so quickly,” Jack said. “We had to come in and visualize if it would work, like where we would put the drive-thru because we did not want it on Main. But, the owner of the building wanted to move quickly, and so did we.
“We closed a few days before Christmas, and we got to work that day with hammers and sledgehammers tearing out walls with the family. I feel like five months for a remodel is fast, and it feels like we built from the ground up. In the long run, it’s been a blessing, and we really love this location.”
Employees at the new location may look familiar, too.
“We took most of the staff from Pot of Coffee,” Jack said. “When it closed, they kept asking if we were going to open a new one and said to keep them in mind. We had three who have returned, and we hired another person who lives [in the adjacent neighborhood].”
Jack, who previously worked at a coffee shop in Washington State and had always dreamed of opening her own, said the Coffeehouse is finding its rhythm and wants to expand, and it wants to be a haven for those who need one.
“Once school starts and we get all the little kinks worked out, we want to televise the football games,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons we put TVs in here is if the weather is bad or people can’t climb the bleachers, they can come in and have a drink and watch the game in here.
“We also want to give kids a safe haven after school. We have many kid who walk over from school and hang out until their parents come to pick them up.”
Sunshine Coffeehouse offers free wifi, and people who purchase a Sunshine Coffeehouse mug for $10 or tumbler for $25 can fill it with the self-serve drip coffee at will with no additional charge.
“That’s great because it’s nice to see people come in and get their coffee and hang out or get their coffee and go,” Jack said. “It’s great they have that open access.
Jack owns the business with her husband, David Jack, and the couple have three sons: Kellan, a 2021 Cassville graduate; Tristen, an incoming senior; and Brayden, an incoming seventh-grader.
Sunshine Coffeehouse is located at 1313 Main St. in Cassville, and people may call the business at 417-772-3114 or online order at www.sunshinecoffeehouse.com.
