Java jumps; snowboard specialist gets a taste for coffee.A former pro snowboarder snow·board n. A board resembling a small surfboard and equipped with bindings, used for descending snow-covered slopes on one's feet but without ski poles. intr.v. and coffee junkie junkie Popular health A popular term for a person, usually an IV narcotic abusing addict, whose life is disorganized vis-á-vis family and societal structure, whose existence revolves around obtaining–often through theft, prostitution or other illicit , Dave Lee Dave Lee may refer to:
Lee founded Signal Snowboards in 2004 and manufactures about 4,000 snowboards a year. But snowboard sales slow down in the summer, so what's a boarder-turned-businessman to do? Inspired by his own six-cups-a-day java habit, Lee is now marketing coffee to support his board business during the off-season. His L.A.-based company poured its first cup of Signal Coffee in August, targeting the same snow boarding set that buys his winter sporting gear. "I always loved coffee so much when I was boarding; I just wanted to get it for free," Lee said. "I promised all my buddies I was going to start a coffee company so we could drink all we wanted." Lee is married to Kennedy, a former MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. vee-jay he met when she enrolled in snowboarding snowboarding: see under skiing. snowboarding Sport of sliding downhill over snow on a snowboard, a wide ski ridden in a surfing position. Derived from surfing and influenced also by skateboarding as well as skiing, snowboarding began to burgeon camp. He started Signal using his money and some his wife invested. With the boards business up and running, Lee is working on putting his bags of coffee, which come with Signal stickers bearing slogans like "grinding rails and beans," into the independent outlets that carry his snowboards. The initial coffee-related expense hasn't been much--a few thousand dollars from the snowboard business to buy hundreds of pounds of un-roasted organic beans from San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden wholesalers. One of his snowboard connections has provided some help, too. Steve Myers Steve Paul Myer (born July 17, 1954 in Covina, California) is a former professional American football player who played in 4 NFL seasons from 1976-1979 for the Seattle Seahawks. , one of Signal's sponsored pro snowboarders, owns a professional-grade coffee-roasting machine and has been in the roasting business for about six years. Lee has five employees working on the coffee side of the biz. His costs include the $2.50 per pound wholesale purchase and whatever he pays the roasters (he splits the work between his pro rider and another private roaster roaster a young fowl for eating; weighs 5 to 7 lb at 6 months of age. in Seattle). He sells his seven blends for $10 to $12 a pound depending on the variety, pretty much in line with fancy coffee brands that retail in the $9 to $13 a pound range. Though the profit margins are good, it hasn't as yet qualified as an overnight success. So far, Signal has sold about 500 pounds of the java, which is only in a handful of stores. The majority of the sales have come via Signal Coffee's Internet-based "coffee of the month club," which has about 50 members. Eventually, Lee said he hopes the coffee Line--and related merchandise--will be successful enough that he can afford to be "really creative" with his boarding business. "People who are in the coffee business would scoff at the poundage POUNDAGE, practice. The amount allowed to the sheriff, or other officer, for commissions on, the money made by virtue of an execution. This allowance varies in different states, and to different officers. we sell right now, but it's something fun," Lee said. "If we could get the coffee to take off, then we won't have to worry about how many boards we sell." At some retailers, like Revolution Snowboards in Washington, Lee wants to put in Signal coffee bars and baristas to make hot drinks on cold winter days. The company already has. believers in some of the retailers who stock the coffee. Tim Swart swart adj. Archaic Swarthy. [Middle English swarte, from Old English sweart.] Adj. 1. , the owner of Univ apparel boutique in Encinitas, said he got hooked on Signal Coffee through the online coffee club and is now stocking the java (but not the snowboards) in his just-opened store. "I think coffee is going to end up being his primary business because there's more of an outlet for that," Swart said. "I love it. I'd like to get Dave in the store to drink six cups of his coffee and see what happens." By ANNE RILEY-KATZ Staff Reporter |
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