Stir Coffee House, at the entry of historic Ladner Village, sits now on a spot that has been vital to the community for many years. In 1963, Johnny Lowe opened Ladner Grocery, a corner store that provided local Ladner residents a place to buy their flowers and groceries, but also a place to connect with other members of the community. Everyone in Ladner knew Johnny and felt welcomed into his store by either him, or a member of his family that worked hard in the shop.

Today, Johnny’s youngest son, Robert, has inherited Johnny’s passion for entrepreneurship – he is now the owner of Stir Coffee House. Robert’s mission is to continue to enrich the community that he grew up in with the same values his father taught him, as well as providing it with a perfect cup of coffee!

Stir Coffee House takes coffee seriously. Each barista is meticulously trained to ensure that the high quality standards are maintained within every beverage. Stir Coffee House aims to not only serve your favourite cup, but also be a place where all members of the community can come and feel welcome with their own friends and family, and with their staff.

Question: How are you supporting other local businesses?

Answer: We have an informal policy to buy from local businesses, but mostly we’re looking for other local, like-minded businesses when we make purchasing decisions. We support other local businesses by sourcing our coffee, tea, baked goods, and some of our retail goods from local providers. We use coffee from 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, roasted locally in Burnaby.. Our tea comes from The Teaguy in Squamish that imports his teas directly from source. About 65 – 70% of his teas are his own creation of blend ,  Most of his teas are imported into Surrey where they are blended to his recipes.  We bring in a variety of freshly baked goods daily from Monte Cristo,  Eightfold Eats and To Die For Fine Foods to ensure you’re given the freshest way to start your day. We get our  amazing sandwiches from Prado – they build the breakfast and lunch, that we love with fresh ingredients including free range eggs, organic bread, local quality milk, and GMO free flour.

We also use about 95% local service providers! This includes all our accounting & bookkeeping, banking & financial services, construction, education & training, IT services, media (advertising, etc.), and repair & maintenance providers. A couple of our service providers are from Ontario – our pay system is based in Toronto, and our card terminal is based in ON. The remaining 5% – our POS system,  is based in the U.S.

Question: What social practices are you proud of?

Answer: We have about 12 employees – we aim to hire post secondary students within Ladner or Tsawwassen, and give them great job experience. We value our employees and provide them with the necessary skills and tools to progress with a necessary skill set externally or by promoting them within.  With an emphasis on excellent customer and community minded service and quality control, we aim to provide the best possible experience and cup of coffee to every customer that walks in.