Welcome to the caffeinated jungle.
Billed as part coffee shop, part plant store — and hopefully much more — business partners Myra Gleason and Jack Blevins are putting the finishing touches on Fillmore Coffeehouse and Plant Cafe, which opens its doors in downtown Iola Sept. 30.
“We’re going to have plants everywhere,” Gleason said, noting that coffee shops and plant shops have a common theme. One rarely has space for the other.
“Usually, if you go into a coffee shop, all the plants are in the corner and dying,” she joked. “Or, if you’re going to buy plants, there may be a spot in the corner for you to drink your coffee.”
Gleason and Blevins aim to remedy that conundrum.
That the duo — who met only nine months ago — have taken a leap of faith to open what they hope becomes an anchor business in downtown Iola is a story in itself.
Gleason is perhaps best described as a renaissance gal, with rich and varied interests in everything.
She and her husband, Gabe, have garnered a devoted following with their husband-and-wife music group Gleeson.
And she also loves botany, and has grown equally popular with her Instagram account detailing her passion of learning about houseplants.
She counts 60 such houseplants in her old house in Sacramento. “I have a whole garden in my house,” she joked.
Her passion is such that she wrote a song about her green thumb. “House Plants Are a Vibe.”
All the while, Gleason took a job as a barista in California, and soon brewed up a love of coffee.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Suddenly, their performance gigs were kaput, and the coffee shop closed.
Gabe, meanwhile, also worked as a chef, but with restaurants also taking a hit, the Gleasons were in scramble mode.
They stayed afloat financially with their music through, of all things, movies and television shows. Sharp-eared fans will hear their tunes in the background of such shows as “The Good Doctor,” “Shameless,” “Batwoman” and “Better Call Saul.”
As the country began to emerge from the pandemic, the Gleasons were eager to find an anchor business.
What’s more, they were looking for a place to set roots.
Gleason was at a business conference in Arizona about nine months ago when she crossed paths with Blevins.
“And we just clicked,” she said.
Like the Gleasons, Blevins’s career trajectory took a few twists and turns, largely because of the pandemic.
Blevins grew up in the Kansas City area — often visiting relatives living in Colony — and had started a job in the restaurant industry after high school.
He was a quick learner, and rapidly moved up the management ladder, but came upon an epiphany as more promotions came along.
“I was seeing others above me, and they were all miserable,” Blevins said.
Blevins tapped the brakes on his restaurateur dreams and opened Fillmore Vintage, a furniture and vintage home decor and apparel store in downtown Kansas City. (Fillmore is a family name, he explained.)
Then, when the pandemic began forcing merchants to lock up for good, Blevins adjusted on the fly, and began prioritizing online sales.
The strategy worked to perfection, keeping him in business through the pandemic.
If anything, the online sales exceeded expections, Blevins admitted.
“I’d put a piece of furniture for sale online, and within 20 minutes it would be sold,” he said.
But like the Gleasons, he was ready for something different.
FAST FORWARD to spring 2022, when Blevins learned about a business opportunity in Iola, which had been without an authentic coffee shop since Around the Corner closed its doors in January.
He contacted Gleason, and made a trip to Iola in March to offer Gleason a virtual tour of the same building at 102 S. Washington Ave.
“It was kind of difficult to see sometimes because it was raining, and his umbrella was in the way,” Gleason laughed.
But as she learned more about the facility, and Iola, Gleason jumped at the chance.
“I signed the lease, sight unseen,” she laughed.
In the five months since, she’s seen nothing to change her mind.
“The friendliness is just part of the town,” she said. “People smile back at you here. I think coming from the last two years, community is everything. Having a space to bring people together is so important. Coffee shops are the heart of a small-town neighborhood.”
Gleason and Blevins agreed to keep the Fillmore name from his store in Kansas City, partially because of the name brand recognition.
“And it just fits,” Gleason said.
THE COFFEE beans come from Remedy Supply, Co., based out of Auburn, Calif.
“It’s phenomenal,” Gleason said. “The roaster is incredible.”
The coffee beans cost a bit higher than other brands, she added, for a reason.
“They make sure that everybody involved, from the ones who grow the beans, is paid a living wage,” Gleason said. “That’s important to us.”
Gabe Gleason, meanwhile, is responsible for creating the food menu.
Fillmore will sell its own bagels, pastries, muffins, even charcuterie for adults and children.
“We also have our own brand of syrups,” she said, touting such flavors as lavender, vanilla, pumpkin. “The orange creamsicle is to die for.”
She’ll take advantage of Iolan Hayley Derryberry’s sourdough recipe as well.
All the while, Gleason will speak with anyone who will listen about her passion for gardening and growing houseplants.
She’s collected a pile of vintage garden books, and hopes to have experts in house occasionally for workshops and the such.
“We want to sell you a plant that won’t die after two days,” she laughed.
FILLMORE will offer much more than coffee and plants.
Gift items from local artisans will be sold, as will assorted Vintage furniture items.
In fact, many of the smaller tables will be from Blevins’s furniture stock.
“Jack and I want to support other small businesses, sell their gift ideas,” Gleason said.
Mostly, Gleason and Blevins hope to foster an environment of community, welcoming everyone from a young college student to a harried parent a chance to relax a spell.
She’s already got the WiFi for college students or business folks to stay connected to the online world.
She hopes to add open mic nights for would-be performers as well.
Fillmore Coffee House and Plant Store will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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