Coffee's not all that's brewing

COEUR d’ALENE — Coffee, tea or controversy?

At the popular downtown coffee spot formerly called Calypsos Coffee Roasters, the new owners find themselves in the middle of a political crossfire — and they're determined to not get caught up in the debate.

Now called Lyfe Coffee Roasters and Public House - Lyfe stands for Live Your Freedom Everyday — the coffee shop reopened Sunday and was immediately applauded by a conservative website calling the new co-owners "highly patriotic" while criticizing the former owners.

The business is co-owned by two couples, Dave and Brooke Miller and Dean and Christie Strawn. While the Millers have been longtime Coeur d’Alene residents, the Strawns have more recently found their home in the community, moving from Camas, Wash.

The re-opening of the coffee shop gained attention of the Kootenai County Spectator, a website run by Erin Barnard. Barnard describes herself as a conservative Christian woman who started the page to deliver the “real Kootenai County facts.”

Barnard says on her About page that she saw “exactly how our liberties could be taken away when we weren’t paying attention, and 2020 helped me understand my red line, my morals, my history, and it made me become more conservative than I’ve ever been before.”

Barnard identifies herself as secretary of a local chapter of the John Birch Society, vice president of the Northwest Property Owners Alliance, as well as a proud member of the Kootenai County Republican Women Federation, the Well-Armed Woman Shooting Club, Republican Party and Candlelight Christian Fellowship in Coeur d'Alene.

An article about the coffee shop on the website points to RJ Rueber, who formerly co-owned the shop with mother Diane Rueber, causing a “stink about people protecting the downtown Cd’A area last June.”

Rueber was quoted in The Spokesman-Review in June 2020, saying he “supported the right to own and carry weapons but their presence downtown had gone too far.”

Several businesses boarded up their windows and hundreds of armed men and women patrolled downtown Coeur d’Alene in early June 2020 following rumors that out-of-state rioters planned to descend on the community.

Rueber said they closed the coffee shop early each night because customers and employees didn’t feel safe downtown.

“They're [sic] employees were so scared about ‘armed vigilantes’ that they had to close early every night,” the Kootenai County Spectator article says. “Those ‘armed vigilantes,’ who made sure Calypsos' windows never got smashed and their business was not destroyed, found out about the management's comments that none of them ever stepped foot in there again.”

“Luckily for us, the new owners are Dave and Brooke Miller (owners of the Beau Monde chain of businesses) and 2 partners, and highly patriotic,” the article says. “First order of business was changing the name from Calypsos to LYFE Coffee Roasters and Public House. LYFE = Live Your Freedom Everyday.”

According to her husband, Brooke Miller attended the President Trump rally and demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. However, she was not among those who stormed the Capitol building.

“My wife went to see what was kind of going on there, see what all the craziness that was happening,” he told The Press on Tuesday. “She didn’t go in the Capitol or anything like that.”

The Kootenai County Spectator Facebook page posted Sunday said the coffee shop was having a grand opening “so head there after church and congratulate them on taking over a progressive craphole and making it something great!”

But some locals resent that description and are speaking out themselves.

"I hope the hate-filled, mean-spirited comments aired on Facebook toward the owners of Calypso's by far-right individuals who are supporting this new business does not reflect upon the owners of LYFE Coffee Roasters & Public House," said Deborah Rose, a former member of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee who describes herself as a concerned citizen. "Our community needs more respect encouraged and communicated for our differences, and less disrespect communicated to ensure we have a healthy, prosperous community. I hope all political persuasions will be welcomed to patronize this new business."

Miller said Tuesday he hadn’t seen the Kootenai County Spectator post, nor was he familiar with the Kootenai County Spectator.

He said the former owners have been nothing but great to work with, helping with the transition. He said he has an excellent relationship with them.

“I don’t know anything about their beliefs politically but I don’t care,” he said. “I care that people treat people with respect, people are kind, people are compassionate, and that’s exactly how the previous owners have been with me.”

Miller said there was no consideration whatsoever to the previous owner's political beliefs in purchasing the business. He said he doesn’t enter a business wondering if it’s a left- or right-run enterprise.

“I think people are making it difficult,” he said. “People are looking for reasons to disagree, for reasons to separate. I’m looking for reasons to bring people together.”

Miller said he chose LYFE because he believes in freedom. He said small businesses allow people the freedom to live the way they want and have time to invest in their community and be with their families.

“Really, owning a business is a chance for me to live my freedom,” Miller said. “That’s a chance for me to, if I need to get off to go to my kid’s basketball game, I can.”

Miller said he and his wife met their business partners, the Strawns, a couple years ago through their sons playing basketball together.

“They’ve become very good friends,” Miller said. “We wanted to do business together.”

Miller said they weren’t planning to open anything until June, but when the coffee shop came up for sale they decided to jump in early.

“We liked the idea of small business,” Miller said. “This was literally the perfect opportunity for us because we really want to do something where we can really involve the community and have a place for the community to hang out and meet and create memories.”

Fresh paint and furniture have been added to the building to reflect the new owners’ style.

Sami Profitt of Coeur d’Alene, a regular of the store when it was Calypsos Coffee Roasters, came by for coffee. She said she's a fan of the new changes but hopes the art comes back.

“(The new owners) were just super nice,” Profitt said. “I like it. I like the furniture.”

Phoenix Lawrence of Coeur d’Alene said she enjoyed their veggie burrito and coffee.

The building is about midway through remodel, and Miller said they’ll still be adding more touches and are planning to bring back art for the walls.

“We’re trying to create a very warm, comfortable place for people to hang and relax with friends,” Miller said.

The business will be closed from Jan. 14-18 for remodel.

Hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily but will expand to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays starting in February.

Miller said they’re planning on bringing live entertainment back as well, including karaoke, comedy, dance and trivia nights. He said one idea is to have special theme nights such as performances by kids or Friday nights for young adults.

“It’s probably going to be more like spring before those get added, but yeah we definitely have ideas,” Miller said. “We just really want this to be a public house so people can hang and create memories.”

This story has been updated