SOUTH SHORE ENTREPRENEUR:
Janet
Peterson - It's a jungle in her java bar
By ANDREW LaVALLEE
The Patriot Ledger July 25, 2005
HULL - Janet Peterson
considers her two-cups-a-day coffee consumption to be modest, considering
her line of work. She was once a big hazelnut fan, but she recently crossed
over to toasted almond.
But at Java Jungle, which she owns, she sympathizes with the people who
drink unflavored coffee. She keeps two separate grinders and brewing
stations so that no one gets an accidental whiff of French vanilla in his
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.
It's not insignificant at a coffee shop that customers seek out for its 13
different roasts. Peterson, 35, was able to celebrate the first anniversary
of Java Jungle, 175 George Washington Boulevard, Hull, this
past weekend because of them.
Coolattas can be found less than a mile down the street, and venti
Frappuccinos lurk in nearby Hingham. But Java Jungle has
won some of its rivals' clientele, Peterson said, because of its variety
and customer service, which is relaxed but attentive.
She greets virtually every person who walks in by name.
‘‘If you're happy, customers see it,'' Peterson said.
She wants it to be a fun place to work for her nine employees, and has
rewarded them with extra days off and tickets to a concert when they do
especially good work.
Peterson's mothering instinct occasionally kicks in at work. She
successfully weaned one customer's daily coffee order from seven sugars to
two, she said. When another customer missed his favorite flavor of muffin,
Peterson began stocking two of them a day, with one kept in a paper bag
with his name on it.
Peterson was one of many people who
took a voluntary severance package from State Street Corp. in June 2003
during that company's cost-cutting efforts. She had worked there 5½ years
as a health and safety program manager. But she was ready to become her own
boss, and the idea of a coffee shop immediately began to percolate.
A Marshfield resident, Peterson
decided to return to the town where she grew up to open Java Jungle. Since
Hull's beach-going
population increases in the summer, she scrambled to find a location, get
permitting for a drive-up and open for business by last July. She
eventually sees the business expanding by opening shops in communities such
as Marshfield, Plymouth and Braintree.
The shop uses biodegradable ‘‘Greenware'' cups whose brochure
states ‘‘the cup you're guzzling from was made entirely from
corn ... and no, you can't eat it.''
A life-size artificial tree with real tree limbs is planted in the middle
of seating area. A plush black panther rests on top of the drink cooler,
and safari prints of elephants, lions and giraffes are on the walls. There
is no Styrofoam used in the shop, and once someone produces biodegradable
straws, she said, it will be 100 percent eco-friendly.
Although she went into business for herself partially so that she'd have
more time to spend with her family, it's not lost on Peterson that she's
now working six days a week. At times she has found herself dropping her
kids off at her grandparents at 4:30 a.m., so that she can be
at the shop by its 5 a.m. opening.
‘‘I have two boys at home and then my business,'' she said.
‘‘This is an adventure. It's fun. Most of the time.''
