Planet Java Real Coffee...Real People

Full-flavor dream by Jeff St. John, The Fresno Bee

December 2006

Terri and Keith Caskey of Fresno have a piece of advice for other would-be coffee entrepreneurs -- if you're going to go up against the giants, be ready to offer something the giants can't, Caskey said. That's why Planet Java offers its customers special-order coffees like Peaberry from Tanzania, Kona coffee from the Big Island of Hawaii and Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica, he said. For the Caskeys, the owners of the locally owned Planet Java chain of cafes and coffee carts, that means offering customers special-order drinks and coffee blends, choosing locations carefully and being available for their managers and employees pretty much all the time. "We're 24-hour people," said Keith Caskey, who left his job as an auto mechanic in 1997 to follow the dream of running his own business. "We try to take our weekends for ourselves," joked Terri Caskey, who left her job as a dental assistant in 2000 to work at Planet Java full time. The couple expanded what began as a concession at California State University, Fresno sporting events to a profitable, nine-location chain with about 40 employees. Today, the Planet Java name can be found across Fresno, at several sit-down cafes as well as at coffee carts on Fresno State's campus and at local hospitals. On Wednesday, the Caskeys will open their 10th location, at Fowler and Ashlan avenues in Clovis. It's a new venture in two ways. Not only is it their first cafe outside Fresno, it's also their first location directly across the street from a Starbucks."It's very hard to compete with the mega-chains," Keith Caskey said Monday as he and his wife prepared for their new store's opening. Of course, he said, Starbucks has "opened the market" to high-end coffee drinks for the Fresno market, as it has done for cities and towns across the country. "But I think they're going to be good for us," Terri Caskey said. "We do want to give people a choice." Planet Java is likely the largest locally owned coffee chain in Fresno. Still, they're far behind Starbucks, which has 47 locations in the Fresno city limits, according to the company's Web site. Offering a choice that people will choose is a struggle many first-time business owners face when competing against corporate giants, said George Vozikis, who is Edward Reighard Chair of Management and director of the Institute for Family Business at Fresno State. In fact, he said, three of the students in his graduate MBA entrepreneurship program have submitted cafe-oriented business plans to him this year. "The point is that you have to have a value concept," he said. "The idea is to create a reason for, let's say, a Starbucks customer to alter or change their purchasing habits." In terms of high-end cafes as a business proposition, "It's a good thing you have Starbucks, because they've done all the pioneer work," Vozikis said. "But you cannot compete head-on with them unless you offer something different." For the Caskeys, that difference has hinged to a great extent on their credibility as a locally owned business, familiar to many longtime customers from their presence at Fresno State sporting events, that can offer a level of quality and service competitive with a company like Starbucks. As far as quality goes, "To me coffee is very similar to wine," with different regions offering different tastes, as well as a wide variety of quality, Keith As far as customer service goes, exceeding expectations means providing coffee carts for catered events like graduation parties and weddings, Terri Caskey said. "We can set up a fill espresso bar, as long as there's electricity," she said. It also means "learning the customers' names and their drinks. We want to take the extra time to provide that personal service." Of course, getting employees to put in that extra effort means offering them flexible schedules and attractive wages, Keith said. To keep up with the times, the new Planet Java in Clovis also will offer free wireless Internet service, he said. In the spring, the Caskeys plan to open a Planet Java in Madera at the Pilot truck stop near Highway 99 and Road 18 1/2. The next step would be to franchise the brand, though they say they have much to consider before that happens. "We like to keep things close, to keep the personal touch," Terri said. That's a common challenge family-owned businesses face when looking to expand or start franchising, Vozikis said. "I've seen a lot of people who decided to franchise because they were so successful, yet failed because they tried to maintain the same control as a mom-and-pop" business, he said. "It's a function of flexibility and coordination. You've got to put in place a solid organizational infrastructure." To maintain the level of quality their customers have grown used to, Planet Java would likely require franchisees to sign contracts pledging to maintain business relationships with the suppliers, like their coffee supplier Sumner, Wash.-based Dillanos, that serve their Fresno stores, Keith said. "It puts us in a position that we have to come in and do a better-than-expected job, exceed customer expectations," he said. Otherwise, he said, "we won't be around."

Fresno Bee, The (CA) Published December 5, 2006 Section: BUSINESS Page C1 All content © The Fresno Bee Used with permission

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