As a child, Oliver Miller-Finkel was fascinated with his family’s history.ย There were stories of World War II bombardiers, flower arrangers, and beautiful Victorian gardens. Today, he is still fascinated by it all, and through his own love of coffee has added a new chapter to his family’s story.
Less than a year into its existence, hisย Lula Rose General Store has madeย a home in Denver by balancing the world of specialty coffee withย local goods, family nostalgia, and his own personal touch.
โI really liked the idea of [Lula Rose]ย not being focused only on the cafe side,โ says Miller-Finkel. โObviously, thatโs the main driver of the business, but thereโs more of my personal interests [here] outside of coffee. We have canned jam, we do flower markets on the weekends, andย obviously we sell bags of coffee, stuff like that. Itโs really more about diversifying our average orders.โ
The shop’s aesthetic is signaledย by lively flowers and big, inviting windows. Miller-Finkel has paid homage to both the buildingโs previous existence as a flower shop and his own familial tradition with gorgeous blooms he arranges himself, with occasional help from his mother.
โMy momโs whole side of the family grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and my great-aunt, Lula Rose, is a flower arranger,โ says Miller-Finkel. โIt kind of made sense to tie it all in together with the history of the buildingโit used to be Country Club Flowers before Lula Rose.โ
As a coffee house, Lula Rose’s setup is simple and solid: Theย coffee bar consists of a baby blue-and-blond woodย Slayerย single-group espresso machine;ย Mahlkรถnigย Peak and EK 43 grinders; and anย AeroPress. The rotation ofย roasters includesย Coavaย andย Onyxย as well asย local staplesย MiddleStateย andย Sweet Bloom.ย Thump Coffee Roastersย (which makes its own pastries in-house) provides daily deliveries ofย baked goods such as blueberry orange pecan muffins and macarons, whileย Sugar Visionย delivers additional pastries like macarons andย breakfast croissants onย the weekends.
The general goods at Lula Rose change on a regular basis, though, and are largely determined by the staff’s interests. While the regular stocking of a particular item may not be guaranteed, this allows for curating and hand-picking local items on a day-to-day basis.
โItโs not very systematic,โ admitsย Miller-Finkel. โItโs based around what weโre interested in at that time, or when we get wind of something thatโs cool. Itโs in the business plan for someone to walk in and say, โOh, I’m just coming in to get a cappuccinoโ or whatever, and then leave with a pair of selvedge denim [jeans].
โOr, โToday we have an awesome box of strawberries, we just got it, weโre super stoked on it, and I think youโll like it and itโll be good with your coffee, too.โ Really itโs all about trying to be fun like that, and being able to put what we like out there and seeing if other people will like it too.
Miller-Finkel saysย Lula Rose’s patchwork style and range of wares is the result ofย a steady evolution. โInitially, Iโd look at other shops and businesses that I kind of wanted to [emulate], and tried to take some lessons from them without totally ripping them off. But since then it’s been a fluid process to get it to where it is.”
At a time when severalย coffee shops in Denver are pursuing liquor licenses (three have obtainedย them, with at least two more applications pending), new locations, or expanded food menus, Lula Roseโs successย lies in the simplicity of itsย operation and the customers with whomย itย has developed relationships.
โWe really try to focus inward now, and not look over to the other side of the fence at all,โ says Miller-Finkel. โEven sometimes, to almost make a point, [we’ll] kind of go in the opposite direction from a lot of people.โ
The shop is located on well-trafficked Colfax Avenue, near restaurants and popular music venues. Set between the Congress Park and City Park neighborhoods, an area without an abundance of good coffee, Lula Rose has become more than justย a coffee shop or a general store.
โColfax is an awesome street and such a busy oneย too,โ says Miller-Finkel. โWe appeal to not just specialty coffee [fans]; we have a lot of people whoย find out about us byย just driving by. We get people from the neighborhood, people coming in from the airport, and people headingย to the hospital down the street.โ In other words, it’s become just the sort of community staple it set out to be.
Ben Wiese is a freelance journalist based in Denver. Read moreย Ben Wiese on Sprudge.