Etcetera Coffeehouse,
located at 320 N. 6th Street in Paducah, KY, was opened in 2006 by high school teachers Johanna and Allan Rhodes with the intention of selling a few cups of coffee and serving as a central hub for the growing Lower Town community. Since then, Etcetera has evolved from a neighborhood shop to an absolute city staple. Over the years the menu has expanded and the surroundings have been developed by adding an art walk, labyrinth, and mural walls. It’s been a privilege to watch families grow, relationships form, and ideas become realities within its walls. Now, Etcetera is under the ownership of four long-serving employees with a combined 50+ years of experience and a goal of maintaining a company that is still grounded in the principles of community involvement and responsible business practices. They’re proud to be Paducah’s original home and first choice for great coffee and bubble tea.
(You can read the original Etcetera manifesto below.)
Etcetera Squared,
is located at 118 S. Second Street (Market Square) in Paducah, KY. In 2010 Etcetera Coffeehouse took a generous offer to expand into a space alongside Kirchhoff’s Bakery and Deli. Since then they’ve been providing a vital ingredient to the atmosphere at your favorite bakery… coffee! It’s a match made with Paducah’s breakfast and lunch lovers in mind, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better pair. Etcetera’s menu is almost entirely represented at their satellite location as well!
(Except for the baking— they leave that to the experts.)
The Etcetera Manifesto
AS A COMMITTED PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND WORLD WE LIVE IN, WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO:
1. buy products from locally owned and operated businesses whenever it is financially viable and be willing to take slight profit cuts in order to
support local business people more than big businesses.
2. promote community involvement by providing space for artists, instructors, etc. to advertise themselves, their services, and their ideas without cost through
uncensored flyer space and a community board, as well as provide a cost-free meeting space for any organization wishing to positively impact our community.
3. search for local sources of milk, produce, honey, etc. and fit these into our stock wherever possible.
4. serve only organic/sustainable, direct-/fair trade coffees, and work towards a menu featuring as many other natural/organic products as possible.
5. take as full a part as possible in any recycling efforts being made in the LowerTown community or the city as a whole.
6. educate our customers about good coffee, moral coffee, and traditional methods.
7. consider in full all comments and concerns issued to us by our customers and do our best to act on any viable suggestions.
AS PATRONS OF A QUALITY-DRIVEN, COMMUNITY-INVOLVED BUSINESS, OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO:
1. the best product we can produce for them at that given time, without shortcuts or intentional lack of care.
2. be served without prejudice or bias and get a positive human interaction along with their drink.
3. expect and be rewarded with honesty about what they are drinking, how it’s made, and how that affects them.
4. be served drinks made with the healthiest, highest-quality ingredients possible—
when choosing between mixes, etc. and real stuff, we will always choose the real stuff.
5. feel as comfortable in our space as we feel in their company and have all reasonable requests about that environment accommodated.
AS MEMBERS OF A DEMOCRATICALLY-RUN, PRO-WORKER BUSINESS, OUR EMPLOYEES HAVE THE RIGHT TO:
1. know why we use any method or policy that is currently in place and have any suggestions in regard to changing these methods or policies
discussed and evaluated fairly with a member of management.
2. work according to methods and policies geared toward product quality and better experiences for employees/customers, not toward profit or autocracy.
3. never hear the words "because we said so" or "because we pay the bills."
4. be viewed in terms of work duties as equal to all members of management, e.g., everyone scrubs the toilets here.
5. be included, through regular employee meetings, in all major decisions concerning the company and its products, policies, and identity,
and have all suggestions discussed and evaluated in an open forum.
6. always be paid an hourly wage that is above the federally mandated minimum wage and is never more than 25 percent below the hourly wage paid to a member of management.
7. stand up for themselves without fear of reprimand in any instance of outright bad treatment from a customer—
an employee must ALWAYS be more valuable to us than any one customer.
AS LEADERS OF AN EMPLOYEE-FOCUSED, EVER-EVOLVING, TOTALLY CRAZY FAMILY BUSINESS, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO:
1. workers that are as honest and forthcoming with us as we are with them.
2. workers that understand the gravity of the situation: by being a part of the Etcetera family, you are helping us fulfill our dream. Thank you.
3. a vocal customer base, so we can know our mistakes and applaud our successes.
4. open-minded customers willing to try new things, experiment with us on new concepts, and branch out from “the usual.”
5. a community that understands our presence and the difference between, say, a heavily commercial, cookie-cutter shop and one as passionate and serious as we are.
6. trust ourselves to take leaps of faith and ask that our employees and customers trust us and accommodate our confusion as we continually move forward.