The first thing Chris McColl, co-founder of Our Spot Coffee and Goods, remembers about the crowdfunding campaign was how it felt. For days, he and his wife, Ali, were glued to every new email notification as contributions came in.
“I think within the first maybe 48 hours, we were almost like halfway through our goal, which was just incredible,” he said.
By the end of the campaign, 192 backers had raised $43,568 for Our Spot, surpassing the original $35,000 goal.
The coffee shop recently opened at 2221 Palo Verde Ave., in the former Starbucks space in Los Altos. What began with years of residencies, a collapsed investor deal and a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign has grown into a neighborhood gathering spot that exists because the community insisted it should.
“We asked our community to help us make our dreams come true, and they technically overdelivered on that, which is incredible,” Chris said.
Coffee has shaped Chris’s life for more than 15 years. He started as a barista, worked his way into leadership and operations, and eventually into ownership at a Venice cafe. The experience convinced Chris and his wife, Ali, they needed a business they could fully guide, built around their own ethics, culture and vision.
“We knew that we would inevitably have to start something of our own if we really wanted to have that level of control and pride in the business,” he said.
At the start of 2024, they chose Long Beach for their next chapter and leaned into a residency model, popping up at different businesses so people could experience Our Spot.
“It took us about two full years of running residencies, bouncing through different businesses, oftentimes not by choice, having to pivot due to circumstances, to actually find aligned investors that helped us secure our location,” he said.
An early major investor fell through, so they self-funded to keep going. Support eventually came from their own customers, including a local Long Beach husband-and-wife duo who visited their residencies several times a week and decided to invest. Chris and Ali own 70% of Our Spot, and the couple owns 30%.
The Los Altos location felt like the right fit. They had already moved into the neighborhood and noticed the gap when Starbucks closed, taking away the only coffee shop within walking distance.
“To be able to step in and do that and do that far better is really exciting for us,” Chris said.
Even before opening, people recognized them around the neighborhood.
“We haven’t even gotten the doors open, and we’re constantly meeting people in our immediate neighborhood… people recognize us as the people opening the coffee shop, and they’re either recognizing us or our baby, and expressing how stoked they are,” he said.
Inside the shop, Chris leads the coffee program and day-to-day operations, shaping the guest experience at Our Spot. Ali oversees the brand and social media while also helping guide retail and events.
The design leans into a bar-style setup where guests can sit, talk with baristas and order anything from a classic latte to a more progressive drink. A dedicated patio and communal seating welcome families, commuters and students, while events and collaborations aim to make the cafe feel like a true neighborhood hub.
“To have built something from the ground up in our community in a tough economic season, showing up and pouring into our cups — there’s nothing that’s felt better,” he said. “It’s only ignited my passion to get the business open.”
Chris sees this approach as part of coffee’s fourth wave, defined by values and transparency. He and Ali plan to share quarterly financials so neighbors can see what it costs to run a more sustainable cafe and what their support makes possible.
“We want Our Spot to be your spot,” he said.
"To have built something from the ground up in our community… there’s nothing that’s felt better.”