Location led to Carlson Coffee Co.

To hear Michael Carlson tell it, it was the building itself that inspired him and his wife to open Carlson Coffee Company on Saturday near the historic Tucumcari railroad depot.

The nearly century-old structure at 115 E. Smith Ave., with its Streamline Moderne curves and flat roof, once housed Lena's Cafe, the Tri-Angle Cafe and Danford Dan's Music Shop.

Carlson said he also heard from former Tucumcari Daily News photographer James Crocker the building was a house of prostitution for railroad workers during the 1930s.

Carlson and his wife, Christy Turner, who hail from Portland, Oregon, first encountered the long-closed building in September 2019.

"We hadn't decided for sure to move to Tucumcari yet, but we were down here, scoping it out," he recalled. "We walked around the building and there were 6-foot-high weeds, and we looked at each other and said, 'That needs to be a coffee house.'"

Tucumcari hadn't had a coffee house since about 2015, when Circa in the Historic Route 66 Motel closed.

Carlson said that didn't factor into his decision to open one of his own.

"It was seeing the building that inspired us," he said. "It wasn't the fact of, 'There's no (coffee house) here; we can make money.' Our motivation was we can move to a nice, quiet small town, and the community needs it, obviously. We can take an old building and make it happen."

The opening last month of Jackalope Coffee Haus and Smoothie Bar on Second Street downtown ended Tucumcari's coffee house drought. City commissioner Christopher Arias also plans to open a mobile coffee business in a vintage Volkswagen minibus later this year. That would take Tucumcari from zero to three coffee businesses in just a few months.

Carlson and Turner planned to open their coffee house in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed that.

Instead, Carlson, who describes himself as a "serial entrepreneur," enrolled in the TableTop cooperative and founded CarlsonWay Farm to sell produce from his garden, including at the Tucumcari Farmers Market.

When Carlson grew a bumper crop of zucchini, Turner used it to bake zucchini bread and zucchini muffins. That led to the founding of Goodies Go Last baked goods, which are prominently featured at Carlson Coffee.

"Now I grow a lot of products she can use in her baking," he said.

Carlson also enrolled in Tucumcari MainStreet's FORGE business incubator program, though he acknowledged he already held much of that knowledge because he owns a sign and badge company in Portland.

"I would probably consider it a (Business) 101 course," he said. "No matter how smart we are, it's nice to be reminded of, 'Oh, yeah. I knew that 20 years ago, but it's good to get those reminders.'"

The couple bought the building in October 2021 and began renovating it in earnest. When Carlson Coffee Company debuted Saturday morning, final touch-ups still were being done. Workers were pouring a concrete ramp on one side of the building for wheelchair accessibility, and an air-conditioning unit was scheduled to arrive from Lubbock, Texas.

The shop later that morning hosted a ceremonial ribbon-cutting by the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce. Carlson said a grand opening will be scheduled in mid-July, with live music.

Carlson Coffee Company uses beans from Aroma Coffee in Santa Fe for its drip coffees, cold brews, espressos, lattes, mochas, Americanos and cappuccinos.

"We buy a much as we can locally," he said. "It may cost more, but it's OK. We're not in it for the dollar. We're in it for the good experience."

Like many raised in the Pacific Northwest, Carlson acquired an educated palette with coffee. He drinks it black, with no cream or sugar.

"I have three (cups) before I leave the house, and there's always a coffee cup in my truck," he said. "When I go to bed at night, I always set a coffee cup on the kitchen counter.

"My parents were always the type where a coffee pot was going when I woke up, and they turned it off when they went to bed."

The building, which includes free Wi-Fi and power outlets throughout so customers can charge their smartphones, contains a mishmash of vintage and retro furniture.

Carlson insists his venture is not a "foofoo" coffee shop.

"You can put your feet on the table," he said.

Carlson repeatedly said it is not just a business, but a community center.

"This is Tucumcari's coffee house," he said. "We just happen to have it open; it's for the community. What they want, within reason, they're going to get. We just want it to be a really comfortable gathering place for people.

Carlson Coffee Company employs 10 full-time and part-time workers. It is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, plus for special events at night.

One of those special events was Saturday evening during Down at the Depot at the nearby railroad plaza. A steady stream of customers could be seen coming and going from the shop. Carlson Coffee also received a boost when rain washed out most of the festivities about 7:30 p.m., prompting visitors to duck inside for cover.

"We did very, very well," Carlson said Sunday morning of his opening day.

He said he's grateful for the support and encouragement he's received from townsfolk before Carlson Coffee Company opened Saturday.

"What has surprised me is the hunger that people have had for a place like this ... where people can gather and mingle," he said. "I think people are really excited to have a local place where they can get a great cup of coffee, catch up with their friends and enjoy special events."