Gate City Coffee expands to accommodate more customers, work from artists

POCATELLO — Gate City Coffee is ready to accommodate more customers, artists and vendors after recently expanding, including the addition of Gate City Gift & Gallery.

Bill Kelvie, owner of Gate City Coffee, said the expanded space holds 26 more chairs for overflow at the coffee shop. With all the customers visiting, they were running out of room.

"It's really been a blessing because we needed that room," he said.

Gate City Coffee also removed the retail items that were originally in the shop and moved it to Gate City Gift & Gallery. This gave them more room for the retail offerings from local artists and vendors.

"We had all these artists on our waiting list for us to represent them," he said.

Gate City Gift & Gallery officially opened nine weeks ago. Kelvie said they were able to complete the expansion in only five weeks.

"The thing we were really trying to do first and foremost was keep the vibe so that people felt the same way here as they did in the coffee shop," he said.

The new space has become popular with Gate City Coffee customers. People like to go in to hang out and there are even a few groups that have meetings in there.

"It's turned into quite a spot," Kelvie said. "We have a number of groups that reserve part of it. There's an entrepreneurial group that reserves it. There's a Bible study group that comes in."

Kelvie wanted to expand into Gate City Gift & Gallery out of necessity. He said they were running out of room for their customers and other items.

"We've had such a great response to our local artists," he said. "There's such a depth and a wealth of local artist talent here in Pocatello. There are several artists that we would have loved to have but just didn't have the room."

Kelvie said Gate City Coffee customers have shown interest in the new space. They have loved coming

"The response has been overwhelming," he said. "People love it."

In addition to the expansion, Gate City Coffee was also recently voted best coffee in East Idaho. This is the second year in a row they were recognized in this way, and they were voted one of the top four in the whole state.

"It still floors us," Kelvie said. "In fact, there was some really, really great competition. It's pretty humbling."

Kelvie expressed gratitude for the community for their support for Gate City Coffee during the time they've been in business. Recently, they had a customer give them $500 dollars to buy drinks for customers.

"That's what our community's all about," he said. "We take care of each other."

Gate City Gift & Gallery is located next door to Gate City Coffee in the same location as Nostalgia Antiques, 320 W. Center St. in Historic Downtown Pocatello. More information can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/gatecitycoffee/ .