ASSINIBOIA —The perfect blend, Brian and Joma Domingo changed course on their careers and are now celebrating their third anniversary with their business, The Bean Lover. Joma was in the banking industry before switching careers to go full steam ahead into the coffee business.
“There were several reasons for opening, one of them being the realization that Assiniboia had no coffee service business,” affirms Domingo.
“We had our second daughter during the peak of the pandemic and I was a stay-at-home mom. We needed extra income for our small family so we decided to open a business in the comfort of our home. The town has no coffee service business so we thought this will be a good idea to do. We started as a home-based coffee service business and then opened a brick-and-mortar store a year after,” says the coffee shop owner.
The Assiniboia business owner was born and raised in the Philippines. Her father moved to Assiniboia in 2008 to work and her mom, brother and herself followed him to the community in 2011.
“I always loved coffee but I had no experience in making them. When my husband and I decided to turn our coffee service business into a to-go coffee shop as well, I watched and read up on creating coffees, as well as making my own recipes and going from there.”
The Bean Lover is a coffee service business, providing coffee services supplies for businesses. Domingo says on the retail side, they have their very own coffee beans, loose tea and unique gift items.
“We also do custom print and laser on the side. We customize shirts, mugs, cutting boards and more. This is in addition to our to-go coffee shop, where we also sell drinks and food to go.”
The pair affirm that their business has grown a lot. From starting as a home-based coffee service to opening and renting a brick-and-mortar store to turning it into a to-go coffee shop now are proud owners of the building.
The Bean Lover celebrated their third anniversary Dec. 3 as a brick-and-mortar store. The event included free snacks and drinks all day as well as a big sale for customers as part of the anniversary celebration. The owners have lined up a small gift for every purchase made on anniversary day as well as had more than 20 prizes to give away as part of their anniversary raffle draw.
For now, the business is run by Joma and her husband working in the shop. They plan to let the business grow and hopefully hire people to work with them in the future.
The Domingos share bottomless thanks to the community, “We are so grateful to our community because they have supported us since day one. Yes, we have regular customers that we see almost every day and we love to see every day. People buy gift cards; we sell a lot of gift cards, especially on special occasions like grad and Christmas. They buy gift items from us, as well as custom items.” Their cups runneth over.
Domingo acknowledges that just like other businesses, there are quiet days.
“Because we like to stay in business, we think of unique stuff to do, like the custom laser and printing. As well as making new drinks and food for people to try.”
The dynamic duo say they are proud of turning their coffee service business into a to-go coffee shop as well as transitioning from building renters to building owners.
The Bean Lover’s owners remind residents that they are not just a coffee shop but also a coffee service where people can get supplies for their business. Their customer laser printing can be put on almost anything. They also ship their products to customers if they live outside of town and can’t come into the store.
There are continued positive comments and reviews on the business's Facebook page. “Great service, menu selections and a great gift-buying place with lots of neat things for anyone on your list.”
The Bean Lover also carries other small business products in their store, because they are committed to supporting other small businesses as much as they can. Customers say they appreciate this option and their dedication to other community small businesses.
