PJ's Coffee, founded 27 years ago in The 40-plus store coffee chain originally lost no less than 30 percent of its stores in
As part of its unique roasting process, PJ's keeps its beans in very small batches. But after the damage inflicted on the roasting house and its coffee supplies, no one knew if the roasting facility would ever re-open. "We went to the roasting site as soon as government officials said it was safe to return," said Felton Jones, PJ's roast master. "When we got there, we found a small batch of green coffee beans that was not damaged by the storm. The discovery was our call to action, and we devised a plan." Born and raised in
Cooking hot meals in an efficiency kitchen and using a file cabinet for a pantry, Jones and his production supervisor, Brian Beck, work night and day in the facility in order to guarantee that it is business as usual for the PJ's stores in
For the last two and a half months, Jones and Beck have dedicated their weekdays to maintaining PJ's life support and their weekends to visiting family - which, at this time, live five to nine hours away from
