equator coffee teas larkspur marin san francisco bay area california small business of the year mikes bikes cafe sprudge

For just about any specialty coffee company operating today, opening a new cafe is an exciting event, a physical extension of both the brandโ€™s philosophy and their product, put out into the world for customers to enjoy. I don’t mean to imply that Mill Valleyโ€™s Equator Coffees & Teasย aren’tย excited about the opening of their new space on a quaint stretch in historic Downtown Larkspurโ€”because they are, very excitedโ€”itโ€™s just that, well, Equator’s had one hell of a 2016 so far. As Equatorโ€™s Head of Retail Devorah Freudiger will tell you, โ€œThings are so exciting at Equator right now.โ€

Their first store in San Francisco proper, spitting distance from the historic Warfield Theater, celebrated its one year anniversary in March. There was the small occasion of the companyโ€”a longtime Sprudge advertiserโ€”celebrating its 20th anniversary in business, as well their selection as one of the Finalists for the 2016 Good Food Awards. And just when people were wondering if the year for Equator couldnโ€™t get any better, the U.S. Small Business Administration deemed them the California Small Business of the Year, followed quickly by the companyโ€™s co-founders Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell being named the United States 2016 Small Business Persons of Year. If this wasnโ€™t a big enough honor, itโ€™s the first time in the history of the awards, the very first time ever, that theyโ€™ve been given to an LGBT-owned business. And as if to cap it all off, or to place the giant glistening cherry on the top of the enormous coffee-flavored ice cream sundae, a few short weeks ago Equator threw open the doors to their store in Larkspur, their fourth.

equator coffee teas larkspur marin san francisco bay area california small business of the year mikes bikes cafe sprudge

But the Larkspur isnโ€™t a victory lap. โ€œWe want to be brand-building,โ€ Freudiger tells me. โ€œWe are such a wholesale heavy company and we want to show our clients that to us, this is what a cafe looks like.โ€ Each new cafe represents not just another step forward, but a reminder to the 350 Equator wholesale accounts in the United States that Equator isnโ€™t just talking the talk, they are very much living what they, oh so kindly, preach. As Freudiger puts it, โ€œWeโ€™re making our own syrups, weโ€™re buying the organic milk, and weโ€™re still making money. Itโ€™s important to be able to show our [wholesale accounts] that. It just gives us this authenticity.โ€

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The Larkspur store will be Equatorโ€™s third in Marin County, north of the city of San Francisco, tucked away in a redwood grove as part of a recently renovated historic shopping center. โ€œWe love Marin,โ€ Freudiger puts it simply, โ€œand this space was right over the hill from our Mill Valley store, and when it opened up it just had that feeling a new space has to have. We couldnโ€™t resist.โ€ Larkspur is one of Marinโ€™s main hubs for bicycling, a little mini-highway of high-end bikes and spandex shorts, and the new Equator aims to not only pay homage to that but to support the community it brings. โ€œWeโ€™re always trying to connect with where we are,โ€ Freudiger says, โ€œand weโ€™ve had this great synergy with Mikeโ€™s Bikes and their womenโ€™s team, so we wanted Larkspur to be a really good meeting spot and a place you could host big bike rides.โ€

equator coffee teas larkspur marin san francisco bay area california small business of the year mikes bikes cafe sprudge

To do so Freudiger and her team designed the space with wide open patios allowing for a considerable amount of bike parking. A laser-etched topographic map of Marin adorns one wall and for a short while Pro Cyclist Tayler Wilesโ€™ (whom Equator sponsors) Big Shot bicycle will be on display. In terms of coffee gear, Freudiger just laughs: โ€œWeโ€™re so not a gadget store. Weโ€™ve got a La Marzocco Strada, but honestly, Iโ€™m way more excited about the projector we have showing old bike clips, live streams of the Tour de France, barista competitions, and maybe, on occasion, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Thatโ€™ll be fun.โ€

Beyond just being a place that compliments and enjoys Marinโ€™s bike culture, the Larkspur Equator wants to be a part of something bigger. Equator will team with World Bicycle Relief to host fundraising bicycle events to support the WBR cause of improving peopleโ€™s lives the world over by providing access to bicycles.

equator coffee teas larkspur marin san francisco bay area california small business of the year mikes bikes cafe sprudge

All this, and Equator isnโ€™t done for the year. Theyโ€™ll open a second store in San Francisco this summer, followed by their first Oakland location sometime later in the year. But for now, Larkspur, with its bike piles and towering redwoods, stands as one more chapter in Equator’s remarkable 2016. Or as Freudiger says, โ€œIt just feels like a great way to celebrate with our community, you know? And that feels really good.โ€

Equator Coffees & Teas is located atย 240 Magnolia Avenue,ย Larkspur, California. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Noah Sandersย (@sandersnoah) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in San Francisco, and a contributor to SF Weekly, Side One Track One, andย The Bold Italic. Read moreย Noah Sanders on Sprudge.

Photos courtesy ofย Akaash Saini.

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