Since they opened as a trailer in 2017, Cloud 9 Coffee Companyowner, Morgan Bonn said they’ve gone through a lot of changes. From moving to a full coffee shop in Stockdale Tower, to completing a remodel during a pandemic.
Cloud 9 signed expansion papers at the beginning of 2020, not knowing that the pandemic would last more than a couple weeks or months.
“We just kind of roll with the punches and figure out how to keep going. Not only keep going, but succeed and do well,” Bonn said. “I definitely didn’t do it on my own, and the Bakersfield community and our loyal customers have been so, so good.”
With growth, Bonn adds, come higher costs. Less foot traffic from their neighbors, thanks to a health crisis, has not made matters easier.
“I strategically chose this location because Stockdale Tower is iconic, and the Petroleum Club is here,” Bonn said. It’s in the middle of many businesses and local offices, but during the pandemic, everyone’s working from home [and] the Petroleum Club left.”
Bonn added that yearning for coffee and community brought on by a widely work from home lifestyle, has led to customers they’ve never seen before, knocking on their doors.
When they come to the counter top, she said they will find all staffers in masks and everything sanitized. For anyone who wants to get their coffee curbside, all you have to do is scan a QR code on your phone.
“We aren’t telling people that they can’t sit inside or outside. We did only curbside pick-up in the very beginning, and it was rough,” Bonn said. “So now that we have the expanded space and we are able to separate tables, and keep people far apart from each other, we’re allowing people to sit inside just because it’s freezing and it seems to be helping us stay afloat. ”
Cloud 9 will also give customers new flavors every season to try and a book club they can attend every month, starting in January 2021.
“You can either come in and enjoy it with us, or enjoy it via Zoom,” Bonn said. “We’re trying to think of things the Bakersfield community needs right now, and ways for us to connect and feel closer to one another.”
In that spirit, Bonn encourages small businesses and customers to support local establishments, coffee shops or otherwise.
An interactive map of all the coffee shops around town can be found here.
