Andre Johnson is only 18, but he already has his own business.
On weekdays from 5 a.m.-2 p.m., Johnson sells Americanos, lattes, mochas and more out of his yellow-trimmed espresso stand in downtown Renton.
The Kent resident has been working at Jammin Java for only a month or so, but he plans to stick around.
“I plan to be at this stand forever and ever,” he says. “I plan on this stand going to my kids. I plan on this stand staying in my family for a long period of time.”
But for now he’s just getting started.
“Business is starting to pick up,” Johnson says on a recent afternoon at Jammin Java.
Johnson just served up a skinny white chocolate latte to a woman in a car on one side of the building and he’s now fixing up another hot, caffeinated drink for a man in a truck at the other window. A walking group from the nearby PACCAR is on its way through the front door.
At the end of a one-way street, Jammin Java can be hard to spot.
“You have to be right up on it to notice where it’s at,” Johnson says.
But once customers find the shop on the corner of Factory Avenue North and North Fourth Street, Johnson gives them plenty of incentives to stay.
He has all the usual espresso drinks, plus some of his own creations, like the blended root beer float he sold to one of those PACCAR walkers.
He also sells tea, pop, Red Bull, water and snacks.
And from 12 p.m.-2 p.m. every weelday, every drink in every size is only $2.50.
Customers can get the drinks to go or sip them on the stand’s porch.
Coley Tipton enjoyed that blended root beer float on the porch. The Auburn resident comes to Jammin Java with his PACCAR coworkers a couple times a week.
He’s been coming for three to four years, since before Johnson began leasing the place. Johnson has a lease-to-own deal set up with the previous owner.
“That’s pretty impressive at 18,” Tipton says.
A lot of people are saying that, Johnson says.
“I’m ambitious, not like most normal 18 year olds,” Johnson says. “I have a business mindset.”
Jammin Java has two locations: at 345 Factory Ave. N. in downtown Renton and at 1616 N.E. 30th St. in Kennydale.
Hours for both stands are Monday – Friday, 5 a.m.-2 p.m.
Happy hour is 12 p.m.-2 p.m. That’s when every drink in every size is $2.50.
He developed that mindset back in high school in Federal Way. There he was a member of DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) all four years and also a leader in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America.)
Coffee-wise, Johnson worked all four years at his high school’s coffee stand, managing the stand his senior year.
Outside of school, Johnson was manager of Coldstone Creamery in Kent and associate manager at Regal Cinemas at The Landing.
“I have a lot of management experience for being so young,” Johnson says.
A former high school teacher coached Johnson on how to best break into the coffee stand business outside of school.
Johnson says he’s “not in love with coffee stand work” but it’s an OK job.
“It’s not like the best job in the world, but I get to meet new people,” he says.
Johnson wants to buy more area coffee stands and get a franchise going. He just took over another stand in Kennydale, previously called Woody’s Espresso. Johnson renamed it Jammin Java. That stand offers all the same perks as Johnson’s downtown Renton stand, including the happy hour specials.
Johnson is also sealing a deal on another stand in Kent.
But coffee stands are just the beginning for Johnson. When he gets the stands frothing with profits, say when he’s 25 or so, he plans to start a new business: a real estate, construction and mortgage company. A one-stop shop.
“I’d build my own houses, sell my own houses and get my own houses financed through,” he says.
Starting such a business has been his plan since ninth grade. But he’s not quite there yet.
“I’m going to start small and work my way up,” Johnson says.
