Not many independent coffeehouses stay in business for 40 years, and even fewer stay in business that long AND have an international fan base. But Macy’s Coffeehouse in Flagstaff is a special place, and today marks four decades of serving house-roasted coffee, vegetarian cuisine…and love. KNAU put out a call for your favorite Macy’s moments, and we received audio submissions from all over the world: from customers, travelers and employees past and present. We even got a Macy’s poem for this week’s Poetry Friday. Here is an audio postcard of love stories and thank-you’s for Tim Macy and his legendary, bustling coffeehouse.
Kim Bast: I live on Lopez Island in the beautiful state of Washington. I worked at Macy’s from 1993 to, I think, 1998. Before we were even allowed to make coffee for any customer, it had to pass Tim’s muster. I learned from him how to take the finer things – not necessarily expensive things, not necessarily extravagant things – but to take some of the finer things very seriously. My love of good coffee persists. I hand-pull shots every morning, and it is a sacred ritual that is one of the many gifts Tim gave us.
Harmony Carlstrom: I went to college at NAU, and so I worked at Macy’s for four years. It’s funny, you know, I’ll walk down the street in Flagstaff and I’ll just look at somebody and think, ‘Double cappuccino!’ Like 25 years later! I won’t remember their names, but I’ll remember their faces and what they ordered on a daily basis.
Peter McNeil: Our connection with Macy’s Coffeehouse goes back to 2007 when our son David took up an athletic scholarship at NAU and moved from Melbourne, Australia all the way across to Flagstaff, Arizona, which at the time for us was a very unknown quantity. The separation was difficult for all concerned, but we soon realized that David had found a safe haven at Macy’s Coffeehouse. So, thank you Macy's for providing the free WiFi which helped keep our family in touch.
Julia McCullough and Wade Dorffi: My name is Julia McCullough. I am the longest employed person at the coffeehouse right now. This year will be my 30 year anniversary of working at Macy’s in August.
Hello, my name is Wade Dorffi. I worked at Macy’s from ’91 to ’97. Julia is my best friend.
Wade’s my best friend. We met at Macy’s.
I was petrified of her at the beginning. I was! You scared me.
No! You don’t want to tell people that. You want to say that I was nice.
Well, you don’t scare me now.
So, me and Wade are best friends, we met at Macy’s. We lived together for a long time, too, while we worked at Macy’s with a bunch of other Macy’s people. Since I still work there, there’s all these kids that work there now and they’re going through the same thing me and Wade did: they’re tight, they live together, they party together, they hang out together.
Tim is absolutely responsible for it.
Yes.
I believe Tim has embraced every employee with loving arms.
Yeah.
I mean this the nicest way, but sometimes it’s the Land of Misfit Toys, and he just takes us all in and shapes us into the people we are now.
Yeah.
Michelle Knotts: I’m in State College, Pennsylvania, and I absolutely loved, loved, loved working at Macy’s Coffeehouse. I have a really vivid memory of one morning in particular. I had a 5:30 a.m. opening shift, and it had snowed that night, so as I walked to Macy’s in the morning, I was in awe of how peaceful downtown was, and I was amazed by that pink Flagstaff snow-sky. I went into Macy’s through the backdoor into the kitchen and could smell the bagels and the scones and the cheese Danishes, and that we listened to Grisman and Garcia while we got ready for the day. And it is worth noting that I remember exactly the musical choice that morning because I can also still recall so many negotiations and so many spirited conversations about musical selections in the kitchen.
Andrietta Lee: Really to this day, I can say that Macy’s Coffeehouse has been one of my best employers in my entire working career. The reason being is because of Tim Macy. He runs his business where all are welcome, all the employees, all the customers have a special place. And you can just feel a divine presence when you’re in Macy’s where it really feels like the oneness of “mankind” in action at Macy’s Coffeehouse.
JB Dewitt: I’m a Flag local for about 17 years. So, my Macy’s story is more from my father’s perspective. He was a big fan and we lived here when I was a kid – I went to Knolls Elementary, actually – and he loved those handmade ceramic mugs. And my father would tell the story that he dropped one of those mugs, and he was devastated. To the point that his wife somehow got the phone number of the owner of Macy’s, and further, somehow got him to go through the boxes in his garage to find a matching mug for the set that he had. And he found it! He found this ceramic handmade mug from 19-I don’t know when and shipped it to my dad free of charge. It was huge. It was a big deal. And after my father passed, going through the boxes I found that set, and I remembered the story. So, I took them home with me, and I would use one of them, personally, all the time until I dropped one of them. It did not survive the rebuild process. But, those two matching mugs survive to this day.
Jen Castle: I live in Boulder, Utah, and I am the chef-owner of Hell’s Backbone Grill. When I had the opportunity to open my own restaurant, really one of the only restaurants I’d ever worked at was Macy’s. Everything I learned from Tim and from the Macy’s community I wanted to bring into this new place. It’s 20 years since I worked there, and I go in, and he remembers who I am, and gives me a hug, and asks me how everyone is in my life. It’s so meaningful. I think Tim Macy’s legacy are the connections he has made and that he’s allowed all of us to make. Tim is all about the love.
Jean Rukkila: I’m a regular at Macy’s for decades. When I heard there was going to be celebrating of Macy’s, I was sure I needed to write a poem, and I thought, ‘Well, I want to do a Macy’s sonnet.’ This is called Macy’s Morning:
Your book lies open on the wooden table,
The screen of your iPhone shines nearby.
The smell of the roaster, that caffeine high
freshens the frigid morning. The Macy’s label
on mugs and t-shirts is enduring, stable,
It makes you nod at now, savor here, then you spy
a face you saw last on the River. You try
to put a name to smile, best as you are able.
Your choice: hug the wall or join a friend?
Cous-cous in a bowl and laughter wafting past
Combine to make you linger, though you ought
to be down the road burrowing toward the next trip’s end,
Or be off to nearby job or into classroom cast.
But being here is so much sweeter than being where you’re not.
