In a whirlwind 24 hours last week, Jenni Trilik and Marcus Contaldo went from being $216,000 in debt and the owners of nearly 30,000 bags of unsold coffee to utterly overwhelmed with support.โ
โ
It was an unexpectedly happy ending to a drawn-out small business nightmare that began in April, after a deal fell through that was supposed to get their Modest Coffee product (@modestcoffee) onto Walmartโs virtual store shelves in a long-planned expansion of their 9-year-old West Chicago company.โ
โ
With 9,300 pounds of coffee and debts piling up, the Aurora couple wrote about the experience on their storeโs blog Thursday morning, then offered caffeine lovers one heck of a deal: An entire case of coffee for half off, or $7-$8 a bag. Those who didnโt drink coffee but still wanted to help could donate the bags to charity instead.โ
โ
By Friday afternoon, theyโd sold out.โ
โ
โThere has been this huge weight that has been lifted โ financial, of course, but also an emotional one, (seeing) that people do care about the little guy,โ Contaldo said.โ
โ
Tap the link in our bio to read the full story.โ
โ
? Tatyana Turner / Chicago Tribuneโ
? Mark Black / for the Chicago Tribuneโ
In a whirlwind 24 hours last week, Jenni Trilik and Marcus Contaldo went from being $216,000 in debt and the owners of nearly 30,000 bags of unsold coffee to utterly overwhelmed with support.โ
โ
It was an unexpectedly happy ending to a drawn-out small business nightmare that began in April, after a deal fell through that was supposed to get their Modest Coffee product (@modestcoffee) onto Walmartโs virtual store shelves in a long-planned expansion of their 9-year-old West Chicago company.โ
โ
With 9,300 pounds of coffee and debts piling up, the Aurora couple wrote about the experience on their storeโs blog Thursday morning, then offered caffeine lovers one heck of a deal: An entire case of coffee for half off, or $7-$8 a bag. Those who didnโt drink coffee but still wanted to help could donate the bags to charity instead.โ
โ
By Friday afternoon, theyโd sold out.โ
โ
โThere has been this huge weight that has been lifted โ financial, of course, but also an emotional one, (seeing) that people do care about the little guy,โ Contaldo said.โ
โ
Tap the link in our bio to read the full story.โ
โ
? Tatyana Turner / Chicago Tribuneโ
? Mark Black / for the Chicago Tribuneโ