THE STORY OF CREDO

"NAME YOUR PRICE"

By James Farnell & Daniel Montaño

Downtown Credo is a not-for-profit coffee shop with a large mission focused on using creativity as a conduit to affect positive change in the community. The name Credo is defined as ‘an idea, or set of beliefs that guides the actions of a person or group’. Our story of Credo focuses on the power of design to influence the lives of the people we design for … how breakthrough ideas can create a better future.

Many of you probably start your morning with a cup of coffee, but when is the last time you bought a cup and instead of the Barista telling you that you owed $2.30 (ok – $4 if you’re in LA or New York), you told the Barista how much you were willing to pay?

Better yet, when’s the last time you bought a cup of coffee and walked away feeling like you impacted your community – or even the world? If you’ve never experienced either of these, then you’ve never been to Credo.

With a ‘name your price’ menu and a brand promise to be a catalyst toward lives of meaning, impact and community, Credo isn’t your typical coffee shop.

In fact, it acts much like a non-profit, making global impact by buying coffee from countries like Guatemala and Nicaragua. In turn, the proceeds Credo makes from its coffee sales goes toward funding local community projects.

But outside of helping to achieve the Credo mission, this small, friendly, flexible space – located in the heart of Florida Hospitals’ Health Village (in the Administrative building also designed by Little) – has created quite the communal buzz.

Beyond the Latte and the Mocha Cappuccino lies an incubator for new businesses and community programs. It’s a place where friendships are fostered. And, best of all, it’s a place where the sick can, for a brief moment, forget they are sick.

Since Credo is located on the Florida Hospital campus, the space has unexpectedly become a destination where nurses, therapists and physicians take patients to boost their spirits. In fact, Marisa Crooks, a speech therapist with Florida Hospital, works primarily with patients who have suffered from strokes.

Before Credo, she would take patients for a stroll outside of their room and maybe let them get a breath of fresh outdoor air. Regardless of where she went, however, there were remnants of the hospital atmosphere.

Now, Marisa takes her patients to Credo. And as she strolls them through the light filled space and up the elevator to the mezzanine level, immersing her patients in the communal buzz, something changes. Her patients’ spirits and their demeanor suddenly seem more optimistic. They feel elevated to be away from their troubles and part of something positive.

The Credo space our team designed has not only served as a catalyst for bringing people together and impacting lives. The overwhelming success of our AIA award winning concept has allowed Credo to expand into additional space on the hospital campus and to open up two additional locations in the Orlando area.

It has exceeded the team’s expectations financially and surprised many by bringing healthy customers and entrepreneurial start-ups to the campus that would never have otherwise visited the site.

In the belief this Health Village should not only be a place to go when sick but an integral part of the community, Credo conducted a poll of their customers 6-9 months after opening. They discovered that 50 percent of their customers were non-patients, now coming to meetings and working from the space (many arriving via the nearby light rail transit). Credo has become a destination rather than a stop-over on a campus visit.

Credo’s founder, Ben Hoyer echoed these points."Our customers love the quality of the space, the view and natural light from the windows and the communal buzz – all aligned with our mission.” He notes it has helped them grow beyond these four walls and been a catalyst to: a) incubate new businesses and community programs resulting in the shop taking additional space; b) given Credo exposure to a larger audience and opened up opportunities for their business to expand – with two other locations/ collaborations taking hold since this project opened.

There are many more angles to this story that can be told from an architectural point-of-view. However, it’s what architecture enables people to do or feel that will drive customer loyalty and the future success of retail clients. For many, Credo offers an opportunity - for customers of all kinds - to re-connect with themselves and the community.

“This location is bright, industrial and chic. Definitely a great workspace that is less crowded, with more electrical outlets and a different vibe. Plus there’s the view of the trains passing by which is super cool to watch.”

Yelp! Customer

“This is the place to go if you need a reminder about why this city is so freaking great.”

Yelp! Customer

Serving not just coffee, but serving as an incubator for local start-ups and a catalyst in the community. Photo Credit: Caio Freitas on Instagram.

It’s what architecture enables people to do or feel that will drive customer loyalty and the future success of retail clients.

The highly visible 20'x20' cube within a 40'x40' space.

It’s all in the detail. Credo is a simple, flexible and functional response to their needs, allowing customers to write the script. Photo Credit: Seth Dunlap Bucking the trend for ‘frictionless transactions’, we refer to it as ‘positive friction’…where we encourage customers to strike up a conversation over their ‘no menu, no pricing’ approach. Photo Credit: Seth Dunlap

Bucking the trend for ‘frictionless transactions’, we refer to it as ‘positive friction’…where we encourage customers to strike up a conversation over their ‘no menu, no pricing’ approach. Photo Credit: Seth Dunlap

James Farnell, CID, FRDI, IIDA, MCSD, NCIDQ, is a Partner and Retail Practice Leader at Little and can be reached at James.Farnell@littleonline.com.

Daniel Montaño, LEED AP, CDT, is a Partner & Design Principal at Little and can be reached at Daniel.Montano@littleonline.com.