Waves Coffee House aims to be a neighbourhood coffee house that connects the community over great coffee. Our focus is on quality beverages with real ingredients in an environment where you can sit, enjoy, and connect. We like to be innovative and offer meeting rooms, and we hosted the first Bitcoin ATM in the world.
Tell us about yourself?
I have had a number of jobs, starting at McDonald’s when I was 14 years old, then moving on to construction, sales, marketing, you name it. When I started with the family business, I started as a barista, then a manager, then a shop owner, marketing, operations, and now CEO. This gave me direct insight into the operational impacts of our service while maintaining quality.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
To trust the process and record the small victories. Far too often, we compare our insides to people’s outsides and feel inferior. This is the social media dilemma.
What problem does your business solve?
We provide a meeting space for groups and enthusiasts to take a moment, connect, and drink quality beverages.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
The name Waves implies a connection with people. The movement of the hand is a gesture to welcome a friend. We are a networking hub where second language groups meet, chess clubs gather, and knitters knit. Waves is a place to rejoice. We have complimentary meeting rooms for our guests.
What is your magic sauce?
Everyone claims their coffee is the best, but we use specialty-grade coffee sourced directly and roasted locally. We use real chelate in our mochas and 100 per cent pure matcha from Japan, and that’s just the drinks. Step into any of our locations, and you will find corner presence, large windows, plenty of seating, and even meeting rooms. Our location needs to be as great as our offerings and serve as a neighbourhood coffee house for the community to gather.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Expansion is on my mind. I want to get to 45 locations by 2027. I want to introduce two newer concepts in our offerings: a kiosk store and a double drive-thru.
Supporting my franchisee is how we achieve more together, and I would like to vertically integrate to offer more verifications to my franchisee. This means setting up commissary kitchens to improve our food offerings.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The sudden loss of my father in March 2022 brought forward the takeover of the business much sooner than expected. On top of this, it was during COVID-19 lockdowns and also at a time when many franchisee agreements came due and were forfeited. I committed to my father that I wouldn’t close any locations and went from two corporately run locations to eight within eight months. It was a triple whammy, but I’m glad we made it through those years and in a position of expansion.
How can people get involved?
Please join us for a coffee or tea and relax with a friend. We are also looking to connect with great people who share our passion for creating neighbourhood coffee houses as franchisees or vendors with a focus on quality. To learn more, email us at Info@wavescoffee.ca.