People’s Perk at 551 South Mendenhall Street, right around the corner from Spring Garden Street
The People’s Perk coffee house on South Mendenhall Street is celebrating its first anniversary this weekend. To mark the occasion, owners Karen Archia and Nancy Lenk will give a free piece of birthday cake with the purchase of any coffee beverage this Saturday, October 18, from 11 a.m to 3 p.m.
The Perk has provided stability to a storefront that has been home to a fast-moving succession of tenants, some of them pretty skanky, over the years. For that, we can all be grateful and wish them many more years of success.
They’ve also engaged the community in a more substantial and sustained way than almost any other neighborhood business I can recall. Ms. Archia and Ms. Lenk sent out a first-anniversary news release (which shows more marketing sense and initiative than most start-ups can manage) that lists some of their efforts:
“In addition to coffee, espresso and locally‐made muffins, bagels and doughnuts, the People’s Perk also sells handmade goods and artwork on consignment, and provides wall space for artists to show their work on a rotating basis. …
“The People’s Perk has also hosted events including:
- A book swap, where customers could exchange fiction and non‐fiction books
- Cakalak Thunder’s pie auction fundraiser in support of its 10th anniversary
- May 2013’s Queerluck, a monthly LGBTQ community potluck dinner
- Three spoken word events, including the first Coraddi‐sponsored open mic reading this past September
- Creative Aging Network’s Art Party fundraisers
- An open meeting of the Greensboro Mural Project”
They’re good neighbors, and we’re glad they’re here. If you want engaged, home-grown businesses in College Hill and believe they add to the quality of life in the neighborhood, stop by and support this one.