Summer is winding down and change is in the air; our community is ready for what lies ahead. In the midst of stores closing and opening a lot of excitement has been building around the evolving storefronts of Lineville Road in Howard and Suamico on one of our area’s busiest thoroughfares.
In the August of 2002 Mark and Catherine Semrau were ready, ready for change and ready to make a difference in their community. Both had long standing cooperate careers but longed to begin the adventure of local business ownership. When the right opportunity came their way, they were poised to move. Purchasing a coffee roaster and making it their own, rebranding and reopening as LaJava Roasting House. Few know that “La” is comprised from the middle names of Mark & Catherine, while “Java” harkens famous coffee sourced from all around the world. “Roasting House” is significant because LaJava is the only coffee roaster in Green Bay, specializing in fresh coffee, tea, and wholesale partnerships, along with their 4 locations — Suamico, Howard, and two in Green Bay.
Fast forward 17 years and Mark and Catherine once again find themselves ready. Ready to evolve with the growing trends in the area and eager to maximize accessibility to the community. They consider their “LaJava Express” drive thru locations to be successful, serving hundreds of customers daily and with excellence and expedience. When looking at the changing landscape of the Lineville community they began exploratory conversations with Zesty’s Frozen Custard ownership Ted Zieman and Janelle French to explore how to better meet the trends of our community and grow. From the get-go LaJava was drawn to Zesty’s commitment to excellent customer ser-vice and high-quality products, as well as their shared value of investing in local business. After several exploratory discussions both ownerships agreed to relocate the existing LaJava location on Lineville Road down the street and into the Zesty’s Howard/Suamico location at 2639 Lineville Road in Howard.
It is with excitement that they have announced that LaJava Express will reopen inside of Zesty’s beginning Monday, August 5th. Zesty’s is expanding their hours, operating LaJava Express Monday through Friday beginning at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday beginning at 7:00 a.m. by drive thru, inside seating, and outdoor walk-up counter. The full LaJava drink menu will be offered as well as bakery items. As usual, Zesty’s will open their regular menu beginning at 11:00 a.m. daily and both menus will be available until close at 9:00 p.m. daily. As LaJava facebook fan Melissa Dahl put it, “My kids are thrilled! They think it’s awesome that mom can get her coffee and they can get their custard!”
LaJava and Zesty’s look forward to exploring collaborations like a caramel macchiato custard, which was inspired by LaJava’s best-selling latte, as well as a coffee custard affogato topped with LaJa-va’s espresso. The dialog is also underway about continued LaJava Express growth at the other two Zesty’s locations and beyond.
