The Greene County Chamber of Commerce recognized Lake Oconee’s PJ’s Coffee with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 16. The coffee shop is now under new ownership and is working to bring some changes to the business.
As part of the celebration, PJ’s Coffee held an open house event last Thursday for customers to enjoy various amenities, including raffles, spin-the-wheel prizes, and samples of menu items.
Business partners Blake McClendon and Shane Millwood bought the coffee shop on Feb 17. As friends for over a decade, the two decided they wanted to make an investment that could “bring people together.”
“[The opportunity] just worked itself out,” McClendon said.
With their shared love for coffee, McClendon and Millwood found the shop to be the perfect fit as a joint investment.
“We got in here and saw what we could do in the community,” Milwood said. “Now it’s more about how we can serve the community out of this coffee shop.”
After three months of owning the shop, the two have found the overall feedback from the community to be quite positive.
“It has been wonderful to meet people and hear their opinions,” McClendon said. “We closed [the shop] this week and did the extra training to move a few things around because of the feedback we have been getting from the community.”
Since purchasing the business, the partners have received positive feedback on multiple menu items and have recently made some new additions, such as serving beignets.
“Beignets are a staple for PJs across the country,” Milwood said. “I don’t know why they weren’t served here before, but they are now.”
Overall, Millwood and McClendon were satisfied with the event’s turnout and appreciated the Chamber of Commerce's recognition.
“I’m super grateful for the Greene County Chamber of Commerce and the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce for showing up today,” Millwood said. “We are super fortunate to have such great leadership in our chambers.”
As they continue running the newly purchased business, McClendon and Millwood look forward to “growing the community and the team.”
The business has been part of the Green County Chamber of Commerce since its opening a few years prior. Mika Mills, president of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, wanted to hold the ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome Millwood and McClendon to the chamber.
“The idea is to get [the businesses] exposure to remind people that they are here,” Mills said.
Mills has been a customer of PJ’s Coffee since its opening. She found the ribbon-cutting event to have a “fantastic turnout.”
“I’m happy that chamber members and friends and family came out,” Mills said.
With the multiple changes the new ownership is making, Mills believes that a more significant difference is already happening.
“I’ve seen a lot of things,” Mills said. “Staff training seems to be the biggest thing that they’ve done.”
According to Mills, the shop has also begun to promote various menu items, such as breakfast and lunch sandwiches and bagels.
“They did not have bagels before, or if they had them, nobody knew about them because they weren’t out [on display],” Mills said.
PJ’s Coffee is one of the 300-plus businesses in the county’s Chamber of Commerce.
“Last year, I think we added 43 [businesses], and [this year, we are at 26, 27,” Mills said. “It’s growing quickly.”
As the Greene County Chamber of Commerce expands, Mills likes to use chamber events to promote the newly joined businesses. PJ’s Coffee was a vendor for the chamber's annual Legislative Update breakfast.
“I purchased the coffee as a way to support them and give back,” Mills said.
The Greene County Chamber also hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for another business joining the membership list and encouraged the owners to use PJ’s Coffee for the event.
“I said, ‘Well, why don’t you go to PJ’s coffee and get some pastries, so you [can] have them for the attendees at the event?’” Mills said. “[And] So, they did.”
Mills likes to invest in business events to encourage organizations to buy from one another. Even though businesses are not required to join, she believes it helps them support fellow businesses.
“Sometimes they just want to support the community, [and] support the chamber,” Mills said. “It gives them credibility with their customers.”