The Edge Coffee House

The Edge Coffee House offers a warm environment that invites you to linger for hours and come back again the next day, complete with comfy couches, an old piano, and walls lined with Ya Ya’s personal eclectic touch. Owner Patricia “Ya Ya” Y wanted it just that way when she bought the coffee shop two years ago (when it was the Artist’s Grind) and turned it into a coffee house. 

Ya Ya has rebuilt The Edge on homemade soups, sandwiches, and fresh baked goods, with the menu changing daily. And, of course, coffee. Supporting local business is very important to Ya Ya, and virtually everything in her coffee house can be traced back to a local vendor. She uses a local roaster and all beans are certified Fair Trade Organic Feminina, meaning that women are treated fairly and given equal opportunity in the production of the coffee. The Edge is open seven days a week during daytime hours, with live blue grass music on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Ya Ya, along with other businesses on University Avenue, have had to get creative to offset the loss in business due to the construction of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit that is currently in front of her shop. Ya Ya has begun ‘thinking outside the box’ by preparing box lunches for delivery. If the customers can’t make it to her because of construction, she will go to them. Ya Ya has a contagiously positive attitude about life and the construction happening outside her front door: “We’ve got front row seats for the show!” she exclaims.  

She is working with U7, an NDC-hosted collaborative organization working with businesses along University Avenue, to expand her marketing efforts during construction. They have created a new logo, business cards, take out menus, and catering menus to promote her new delivery service, all incorporating Ya Ya’s vision and philosophy. She has also begun to use social media platforms to help get the word out that she and the other businesses are open during construction- and despite the appearance, there’s plenty of parking available on the side streets. “(U7) came to me and I’m so happy that they did, because I’m one person doing a whole lot; they can make something out of nothing. You give them an idea and they put their creative minds together and make it happen. And it’s going to be a big help.”