RIVER NORTH — Lakeview-based coffee roaster Bow Truss has announced plans to open a second shop steps from the Merchandise Mart Brown Line stop.
The company straddles the city's gourmet coffee and tech-startup worlds as a side business owned by Phil Tadros, the founder of Doejo, a local digital marketing agency and so-called "start-up incubator." Kelsey Kreiling, a Bow Truss spokeswoman, says that overlap makes the coffee shop uniquely well-suited for the River North community.
"We really are excited by the community of people who love coffee, entrepreneurship and small businesses in that neighborhood," Kreiling said. "It's a great area that doesn't have as many artisanal coffee outlets as it should."
The roughly 20-seat coffee shop is currently under construction at 406 N. Wells, with plans to open as early as January 2013.
On the heels of their expansion announcement, Bow Truss also recently launched a contest to choose the packaging design for a new blend named for local T-shirt design company Threadless. The online clothier is accepting submissions until Dec. 3, and will choose the winner based on popular vote.
The winning design will be reproduced on all packaging for the Threadless coffee blend at the Lakeview and River North locations and at Bow Truss retailers, like Green Grocer in West Town.
The winning designer will also get $2,000 and a host of other prizes. See the full collection and cast a vote at the Threadless contest page.
