Renton residents show great support for local coffee shops as Renton’s first “Coffee Crawl,” events sell out ahead of next weekend.

Katie Newman, owner of The Rose Gift House & Coffee, said the “Coffee Crawl,” event was an idea her and her dad came up with as a way to encourage the community to support local coffee shops through a tough year of COVID-19 restrictions on businesses.

The event features six different Renton coffee shops including The Rose Gift House & Coffee, Boon Boona Coffee, Refuel Cafe, Liberty Cafe, FitBar Cafe and Common Ground Cupcakes & Coffee.

During the events Feb. 20 and 21, Newman said roughly 150 combined participants will walk from coffee shop to coffee shop sampling a unique type of coffee from each business. Newman said some shops will offer cold brewed coffee, some espresso and some like hers will offer drip-coffee.

According to her, participants of the “Coffee Crawl,” will also receive a bag of coffee beans and a mug.

Newman said groups will be kept under a certain size and will rotate through the different shops in an effort to reduce contact and comply with social distancing guidelines.

Kristi Slotemaker, of River Valley Cheese said her building along with the Hatchery Co-op will be the meeting point for participants of the “Coffee Crawl,”.

She said the venue will also be holding weekend markets as a way to further encourage the economic vitality of the downtown area amid the pandemic and obstructive downtown construction.