Editors Note: A version of this story originally appeared in the May 31 edition of the Alligator.
Coffee shops come in many forms — chain shops in strip malls, meet-ups for students to discuss literature and play board games or drive-thrus for convenience on the way to work.
The CYM Coffee Co., opening June 23 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., offers its own environment as a meeting place to foster creativity and hold events.
“It’ll be more of a community environment than a drive-thru or sitting on a concrete slab in front of the parking lot,”said Brad Neal, one of the six co-founders of Cymplify, a life empowerment project that the coffee house is based off of.
The coffee shop gets its name, CYM, from a Sister Hazel song titled “Change Your Mind.” The band’s lead singer, Ken Block, is one of the co-founders. The project acts as an extension of the song, with lyrics: “If you want to be somebody else/If you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself/If you want to be somebody else/Change your mind.”
“Our mission is to have a good time doing meaningful stuff,” said Brad’s brother, Dave Neal, a co-founder. He is a UF alumnus with a degree in anthropology.
The project was born in Ken Block family’s kitchen after discussing what the perfect weekend would be, Ken Block said.
The coffee house will serve as a centralized location for Cymplify to reach out to the community with events and activities such as sponsoring a tennis match in Connecticut, where Cobden lives.
“We want to do more of that, where we can connect with events we believe in,” Dave Neal said.
The shop is opening in Greenery Square off of Northwest Eighth Avenue.
“Growing up here, this was a vibrant property,” Brad Neal said. “Since then, the square has lost some of its luster.”
“This whole house needed some love in the worst kind of way,” Brad Neal said, “and we were just thrilled to be able to provide some and try to rebuild our community and hopefully help turn our economy and this community around.”
To simplify Cymplify, Ken Block suggests stopping by to find out firsthand what it’s all about.
“It all starts with a cup of coffee,” he said.
