Our announcement letter can be read HERE. Below, you’ll find more details surrounding this transition.
After much reflection, guidance from trusted advisors, and a full operations review, Dry Bones / Purple Door has made the heartfelt decision to exit the coffee industry. Our focus now shifts entirely to “Purple Door,” our job-readiness and life skills program — a service we have proudly offered Dry Bones friends since 2012. We’ve negotiated the sell of our coffee business, and will be carrying forward the core of our job-readiness training. This change comes as we recognize that our mission of supporting young people transitioning from street life must evolve to meet new challenges head-on.
Here’s a candid look at the details of how and why we’ve made this change:
Escalating Costs and Unforeseen Challenges:
- The Ongoing Challenge: Purple Door Coffee experienced substantial and unique challenges in 2019, which caused Dry Bones to merge the nonprofit entity of Purple Door into the Dry Bones organization, February of 2020. With a plan in place to bring about greater prosperity, infrastructure, and strength, Covid arrived on the scene. Gaining traction in the wholesale coffee business remained a challenge.
- Rising Coffee Prices: Coffee prices have been trending upward since Purple Door Coffee began. In fact, green coffee prices are now 120% higher than when we began roasting green coffee in 2016. Due to drought and crop failures, coffee prices reached a 50-year high over the past year.
- Construction and Equipment of Sherman Cafe: Just as we began work on our cafe two years ago, post-covid construction materials and costs soared. The notorious supply chain issues further compounded our challenges, with building materials, coffee equipment, and furnishings costing 30 to 35% over our original budget. These unpredictable costs alongside change orders quickly depleted the financial padding we had built into our business plan, dramatically reducing our runway timeline towards profitability.
- Ongoing Operational Expenses: Increasing costs for shipping, delivery, and other operational goods and supplies continue to add financial pressure and reduce margins.
Intensifying Local Competition:
- The wholesale roasting landscape has changed. We face rising competition from well-funded, quickly growing coffee industry giants—both locally and nationwide—that benefit from significantly greater purchasing power, profit-driven viability, and much higher sales volumes. Without the necessary infrastructure to compete, continuing to use the coffee industry as our job-readiness vehicle would require the need to immediately raise significant new funds and risk the prioritization of our core mission.
Shifts in Our Community and Client Needs & Options:
- The teen and young adult population we serve is experiencing profound changes. Today’s challenges include increased mental health issues, more significant barriers related to developmental delays, and complex hurdles to employment that were present, but much less prevalent in our early years.
- Like every other stratum of society, there has been a cultural and generational shift among the unhoused youth population, and our services must evolve to remain responsive and effective. Shifting our core programming will allow us to serve these needs more efficiently.
- Additionally, Denver now offers so many more job skills training programs than when Purple Door Coffee first began in 2012. We are excited about these new opportunities and will thoughtfully connect qualified young people with these partners as part of the new Purple Door Life and Job Readiness model.
Operational Realities and Sustainability:
- Our roastery and coffee shop, despite passionate efforts, have struggled to hit sales goals amid these rising expenses.
- As a nonprofit social enterprise, we intentionally invest 72% of our current weekly operational hours into training, curriculum implementation, and life skills coaching. This missional focus naturally results in higher employee costs compared to for-profit coffee businesses. After reassessing the value of coffee production relative to our hoped-for outcomes, we believe there are better, more cost-effective pathways to reach these goals in light of today’s realities.
- Additionally, the loss of our largest church wholesale account in 2023 and the evolving and unstable landscape of our federal funding have underscored the need to reevaluate our operational priorities.
Continuity of Core Program & Difficult Transitions Regarding Staffing:
- It is important to note that all current program participants will continue in the Purple Door program, and we look forward to welcoming new participants into the foreseeable future. The program — the doorway of life changing opportunity — the heart of Purple Door’s mission—remains strong and dedicated to transforming lives. The program will soon be moving to a location closer to the Dry Bones HQ.
- We face the difficult reality of reducing our staff as we transition away from the coffee business. This decision, one of the absolute hardest we’ve had to make, comes after deep reflection and consultation. We are profoundly grateful to those who have contributed to our journey and are committed to supporting them as they move forward into new opportunities. Their passion and dedication will always remain a cherished part of this big beautiful story.
Looking Ahead with Hope, Purpose, and Intention
While it is with a heavy heart that we close this chapter on this beloved coffee business — a venture that has been part of our journey since we began Purple Door with our partners Belay Enterprises in 2012 — we are deeply encouraged by the possibilities that lie ahead.
Our commitment to relieving suffering, offering mentorship, and providing clear, supportive pathways for young people remains as strong as ever. In 2025 and beyond, we are confident that a more focused and cost-efficient approach will allow us to fulfill our mission even more effectively.
Thank you to our donors, stakeholders, and everyone who has supported us on this continuing journey. Your trust and commitment have always been the foundation of Dry Bones and Purple Door’s success. Now, as we refocus on our core mission, we are deepening our impact by creating transformational spaces for a unique group of young people — spaces that, if we don’t build them, no one else will. Dry Bones is steadfast in our commitment to designing, meeting the needs of, and creating opportunities for those who deserve nothing less.
What becomes of the Purple Door Roastery and Cafe?
We have now negotiated the sell of three aspects of our coffee business: wholesale and retail sales, roastery facility and equipment, and our Sherman St. cafe. By liquidating our coffee operations, we can recoup portions of our current investments and reallocate our resources to better meet the evolving needs of the community we serve.
We’re overjoyed that another social enterprise — one with strong infrastructure and a mission deeply aligned with ours — will be filling our beloved Sherman Street coffee shop! We’re honored to pass the keys over to our kindred partners at Prodigy Ventures, where the work of empowerment and opportunity among underserved teens and young adults will continue.
Prodigy will reopen as soon as updated business licenses and signage are in place: likely mid-spring, 2025.
Our Englewood roastery and equipment is being purchased by our good friends, Vellichor Coffee Roasters.
Servant Coffee has purchased our wholesale and retail coffee business. Our customers are now being offered the option of a seamless transition and easy access to fantastic coffee.
