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Business & Tech

Business Profile: Felicitous Coffee and Tea

Felicitous Coffee and Tea, which opened last week, features locally-roasted coffees, loose-leaf teas and homemade baked goods.

Former architect Rani Chehal knew exactly what she wanted to do when the housing market began to slump. The USF graduate opened a coffee shop with a friend and she never looked back.

At first, Chehal opened a location in Lutz, but she said she was forced to find a new location after she had problems with flooding and an inconvenient parking situation.

Being a USF graduate, Chehal said she always thought of Temple Terrace as one of her favorite communities in the Tampa area. So, when a location in Temple Terrace opened up, she jumped at the chance of moving.

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“We always wanted to be in this area,” she said. “When I was searching around for a new location here, I stumbled upon this little house that looked like it could be renovated and turned into our new location. It happened to be right here in Temple Terrace.”

Felicitous Coffee and Tea opened last week in a cozy, 1920s bungalow-style home at 11706 N. 51st St.

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Chehal said she wanted to create an “at home” environment where everyone in the community could come to relax. The comfortable, vintage-style furniture inside the coffee shop helps create that atmosphere for its customers.

“… if somebody feels like they need a place to go hang out where they can make a friend and go talk to somebody and that person will probably know their regular drink and probably care to talk to the person, you feel like you are at home,” Chehal said. “That is different than any corporate coffee shop. It isn’t about the money here. It’s about providing the community a place that is different and hopefully becomes a tradition to go to.”

Now that Felicitous Coffee and Tea's new location is within walking distance to USF’s Tampa campus, Chehal invited students to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere where they can read, study, surf the Internet on the free Wi-Fi, or enjoy a locally-made treat.

One thing that Chehal takes pride in is the fact that her coffee shop supports local businesses as much as it can, starting with selling locally-made baked goods and locally-roasted coffees. There is also artwork from local artists that line the coffee shop’s walls.

“All of our vendors are local, and if they aren’t local, they are small businesses,” she said. “The most important thing is that we try to keep money and jobs in our area.”

In addition to coffee, tea, and baked goods, the menu features smoothies and sandwiches.

Once settled, Chehal said the coffee shop will host a wide array of events, including live music on the patio that will feature local artists and outdoor open mic nights.

“I think it’s just the best thing to meet all these new people,” she said. “All of my employees right now are customers from the old store. Over time, we all became friends, and when they found out we were moving stores, they wanted to be a part of it.”

Felicitous Coffee and Tea is open from 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. Monday though Friday, 9 a.m - 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon - 11 p.m. on Sundays.

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