Coffee lovers come together to buy beloved neighbourhood café in Sooke, B.C.

A beloved Sooke coffee shop will live to see another day, albeit under a new name, after community members came together to purchase it.

Stick in the Mud Coffee House owner David Evans posted to the cafe's Facebook page in April, informing patrons that he'd be closing up shop after more than 16 years in business.

Sooke resident Wendy O'Connor told CBC's On the Island that to the community Stick in the Mud was more than just a café — it was a gathering place.

"It's where you go to meet people. It's where you go for an awesome cup of coffee. It's connection," O'Connor said.

"David has a huge heart. And his great vision and ethics. He wouldn't serve anything in his coffee shop that he wouldn't give to his own family. [He's] conscious about sustainability for the planet."

O'Connor, along with some other Stick in the Mud regulars, felt that the coffee house should live on in some form. That's when her friend Bernie Klassen suggested they form a co-op and try to buy the place.

"We reached out to the community, made a post on Facebook and said, 'Come on out if you're interested,'" O'Connor said. "And with less than 24 hours notice on a weekday evening, more than 40 people showed up — and we thought, 'We've got a possibility of doing this.'"

That's not a surprise to Evans, who said he received a groundswell of support when he announced the café's closure.

Café co-operative still accepting memberships

The co-operative, the Sooke Community Investment Corporation, is offering two levels of involvement for people who want to preserve the Stick in the Mud — a $30 contribution for members, who would participate in the co-op's governance and operation, and a $500 investment share. Investors would also be able to receive dividends and vote at shareholder meetings.

Although the sale for an undisclosed amount is complete, the fundraising for its opening later this summer or fall is still underway. O'Connor said the co-op is about 70 per cent of the way to its goal of raising $250,000 by July 31.

She said the co-op plans to keep on all the cafe's original staff when the shop reopens. She said the staff are a big reason for the coffee shop's success.

"I [knew that] if I was going to pass it on to someone, it would be a co-op led by the community and the staff. The people who have been here and been a part of it for so long. They're the ones who deserve to steer it forward," Evans said.

The co-operative could also move to host community events in the evenings, from music nights to cooking classes — "and the fun thing is that members get their say in that," said O'Connor.

O'Connor says they're mulling over the possibility of calling the new venture Cafe Vosino, an homage to both Sooke and the Stick in the Mud, whose brand was not part of the sale.

"We can't keep the present name, but one of the coffees that gets served there is an Americano — but in Sooke, it's called a Vosino. And that was the original postal code of Sooke when the whole town had one postal code —V0S 1N0 —that looks like Vosino."

As for Evans, he is still around. His new business, The Roastoreum, sells coffee beans and supplies in the same building.