Wired-up coffee shops growing slowly in area

While coffeehouses across Europe continue to sprout wires, the Internet cafe craze in Northern Colorado is growing at a pace more like a decaf latte than a double shot of espresso.

Many of the local coffeehouses that do have Internet access play it off as a mere convenience for customers rather than the reason for walking through the doors.

Take the Java Lounge, for example. Tucked into downtown Loveland, right next to the Rialto Theatre, “The Lounge” as regulars call it, features a whole host of evening activities from open-mic nights to drum circle Sundays, a full menu of homemade foods available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a beer and wine menu, an artists’ co-op gallery, coffee and, oh yes, Internet service, too.

“It’s almost got a little bit of a ?50s beatnik feel to it,´ said owner Shelly Fish. “It’s a cross between that and Grandma’s house.”

Coffee and computers

Fish opened The Lounge about a year and a half ago and right away installed computers with Internet access. She has two PCs hooked up to DSL service, one additional DSL port and one dial-up modem station.

Fish charges $8 an hour for Internet access, or $4 for a half hour, and said she is always willing to work with customers who just want to quickly check their e-mail accounts.

With so many other activities going on at The Lounge, Fish said the Internet access is just another offering. By charging customers per use, she usually makes just enough to cover her monthly Internet bill.

One of the longest-standing Internet cafes in the region is in Fort Collins’ Campus West center near the Colorado State University campus.

John Goerges opened the Wired Bean Coffee House 2.5 years ago and recently added wireless access.

“People love it,” Goerges said. “We have a solid local clientele in the morning and the students pile in in the evenings.”

But Goerges said the Wired Bean is first and foremost a coffeehouse. “These days everyone has a computer at their home, and just about everybody has Internet access at home,” he said. “Now in Europe or Australia you’ll find a huge number of Internet cafes because people in those countries don’t have as many computers at home.

“I don’t think (Internet access) will make me or break me,” he said. “I would do just as well without it. It’s just an added convenience for the customer.”

Goerges does not charge customers to access the Internet. In addition to the wireless system, he has one computer hooked up to a DSL line and two DSL data ports.

“The cost of the setup is really pretty cheap,” he said. “Opening a regular coffee house would run you about $100,000 to $300,000, and adding the wireless setup probably only costs another $500 to $2,000.”

Mugs offers free use

Another Fort Collins coffee shop recently came online when McCabe Callahan’s Mugs Coffee Lounge opened two months ago on South Taft Hill Road. Mugs has wireless access and Callahan doesn’t charge for use as long as the customer purchases something.

Patrons can bring in their own laptop or surf on any of the three stations with DSL access. Mugs also provides printing, copying, and faxing services for a nominal fee, but using the scanner is free.

“The majority of our customers are students,” Callahan said, “but we get a lot of families too, and people who stop in on their way to work and check their e-mail while they’re waiting for their coffee.”

Mugs also has a full lunch and breakfast menu, a fresh-fruit smoothie bar complete with all the healthy supplements, live entertainment on the weekends and local artists’ work on display. “I think people are more inclined to stop here because they know they can check their e-mail while they’re getting lunch or a cup of coffee,” Callahan said. “They think, ?It’s here, it’s convenient, I’m going to use it.'”

Soon, the local cyber cafes may see competition from the king of corporate coffee.

In August, Starbucks launched what it calls T-Mobile’s HotSpot Service or wireless Internet access in1,200 shops across the country, including Denver. Currently, customers in the Denver area are able to get unlimited Internet access from any Starbucks location for $29.99 per month, which includes 500 megabytes of data transfer. Outside the area, subscribers pay 15 cents per minute.

While a company spokeswoman said she could not say when Larimer and Weld county Starbucks stores would come online, the company plans to have 70 percent of its North American stores hooked up over the next several years.

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