For mother/daughter duo Lisa and Madi Dombrowski, Jinkies! Coffee and Hangout is much more than just a coffee shop. It’s a place to encourage customers to put their smartphones down and spend genuine time with friends.
Madi says she’s always had a love for coffee shops, and her mom has always had a love for baking. The two decided to combine their favorite pastimes into one business and make it ‘70s-themed.
“I have always loved ’70s culture ever since I was in high school and how people didn’t have social media back then, and they would have to call up their friends and go meet somewhere instead of just texting or snapchatting,” Madi says. “I always thought that it would have been so cool to live in a time period without the distractions of social media and just have that connection with people.”
The business is also a way to fulfill Lisa’s dream of owning a bake shop. She bakes fresh pastries each day, including her gourmet sugar cookies and pop-tarts.
The pair opened the business in January 2021. While brainstorming ideas for the shop’s look, they knew they wanted something different from a traditional coffee shop. Both women love everything about 1970s culture, including music, fashion and decor.
The business is located in the part of town where the pair have lived for the last 21 years. Lisa says it’s been fun to get to serve customers she and her family have known for years as well as meet new people every day.
“The response has been truly amazing, more than we ever imagined,” she says.
Madi says one of her favorite parts of owning the business is watching customers embrace the shop’s theme by putting their phones down and engaging with each other. She loves looking out into the cafe and seeing people talking and laughing.
“It feels truly amazing, there’s no feeling like it, I’ll go to the back and grab my mom and go ‘just look at all the people sitting out there talking,’” Madi says. “It just brings me so much joy to see the underlying message we’re trying to convey.”
The mother/daughter duo have always been close. Owning a business together has taken their relationship to a new level.
“It’s just been so fun getting to spend that extra time with her. Most people don’t work with their mom or dad so getting to have that time is really nice,” Madi says. “I know for her I am her baby, so she just absolutely loves it.”
A lot of the decor in the shop is either thrifted or re-used items from the ‘70s. The business’s feature piece is a record wall, which belonged to Madi’s grandfather who passed away in 1994. His records had stayed in the family throughout the years and helped bring Lisa and Madi’s vision of the store to life.
“That’s something that is super special is that my grandpa is in the shop too, and my mom loves that,” Madi says. “A lot of the stuff is actually from the ‘70s like our phone and old church pew for a bench, and all of the posters on the walls are some of our favorite bands and movies.”
While the shop primarily sells local coffee and baked goods, it also sells a variety of non-coffee drinks such as lemonade.
