Unfortunately for all those who enjoyed the coffee, food, and atmosphere of the Eight Words Café in Carlyle, it appears that the business will not be opening again.
"It was a great experience, a good learning experience," commented the owner, Michael Ellis, who also owns Michael's Coffee Shop in Arcola.
Eight Words will not be opening for a variety of reasons. "There's a lot of problems, some of them we can live with because they would fix themselves over time, like finances, because the initial start up is something every business goes through. One of the biggest problems were facing is with staffing, then in addition I was finding my time stretched a little too far, or a lot. I'd looked into bringing a couple partners on board, but that didn't work," explained Ellis over a cup of coffee at his shop in Arcola.
"Everything came together at one time," continued Ellis, "Key people took other positions," explained Ellis, who was sad to see some of his key staff members leave, yet was happy for the career opportunities they have received. "So, there was the staffing, the partnerships came dry, my lease was up at the end of December, everything came together and said it was time for Eight Words to be done."
The ending of Eight Words was a sad event for Ellis, though he was grateful for the support Eight Words received. "It certainly wasn't for lack of support," continued Ellis of the closing of Eight Words Café, "the community is very supportive and the day before it closed we had people waiting for tables. There were just a number of other factors that make things complicated, but all of the same product is available here in Arcola."
Ellis would love to see another coffee shop become available in Carlyle, but Ellis is a fairly busy man as it is without running two businesses. Aside from making all his own bread, pizza dough, and cinnamon buns, Ellis also delivers his baking and sandwiches to other businesses, such as the Arcola Co-op to sell. Ellis is also currently working on new things to bring to Michael's Coffee Shop in Arcola.
"I'm exploring other things, like roasting coffee and Halifax style donairs," commented Ellis. The delicious donairs are completely homemade, Ellis even makes the pita from scratch. Ellis puts a lot of time, care, and effort into his products and assuring everything is of the best quality. When Ellis isn't busy completing all the hours of baking, delivering products to other businesses, and assisting at his coffee shop, he is constantly thinking of ways to improve his business, and creative new things to bring to his coffee shop.
While it's unfortunate to lose the Eight Words Café in Carlyle, Michael's Coffee Shop in Arcola is doing very well, and Ellis is quite proud of the business he has established there. With tasty coffee and lattes, delicious homemade breads, pizzas, and cinnamon buns, and new exciting things on the menu such as the donairs, it's a great coffee shop to stop in at!
