[ UPDATE Aug 6, 2020 ]
We did a totaly re-design of the site and I wanted to spend alot of time on each little details. So after almost 2 months I learned a new parallax technique you can do when you photoshop an image into a few layers and learned how how to use Lottie images on scroll and page load etc...
Watch the site overview video if you don't want to miss anything, or just go jump around all over his site.
Using Ecwid we custom embedded an online store into the site. It's connected to Printful and all the orders for his merch are sent to them and fulfilled automatically. How freaking cool is that? He just makes however much mark-up he choses and drinks a cup a coffee. It's only $15/mo too! Ecwid offers the same thing for free too, but you only get 10 products and the orders app is disabled. I'm using the free plan now and it's working great too. FYI
Mauricio moved to the States from Guatemala in 2015. He didn't know English and didn't know how to start a business, but he wanted to show the world his love for coffee and his country - starting with Bentonville. This man is known for the one and only 211 Cafe, outstandingly unique coffee, putting a smile on everyone's face and saying "COFFEE YOUR LIIIFE!" (He means it too.)
211 Cafe started off on the Bentonville Square where The First Seat is now. He taught people that coffee could be better and to slow down and enjoy each other's company. Every time you walk into 211 Cafe you felt like you could talk to the stranger next to you, because you all had this little place in common. Also coffee. You had coffee in common and there was this tiny little feeling inside us that knew we were drinking the absolute best, but we didn't flaunt it. That was enough.
It was a hard start. Financially things were tough and it didn't help that English was a new language for Mau. After two years, in his most desperate time, Bike Rack Brewing Co. invited him to work under them as they began experimenting with coffee and beer under the same roof. In the end coffee people and beer people are so different that it wasn't the best fit for them.
Then 211 was gone and I personally wasn't sure what to do. I went to a couple other places around town and none of them tasted as pure as what I had gotten so used to.
This story taught us how hard it to look good when starting a business and since we had solid jobs keeping us grounded we realized that we could help people in Mau's situation without charging an arm or a leg. It's stories like this that make Minim Design Co. Yeah, now you get it.
-Brad