Alex Fisenko & Associates have been in the espresso business since 1969, when together with Joe Carpiac they started to import and sell "Gaggia" espresso machines in Los Angeles, California.

As very few people in this country knew at that time what espresso was, it was very difficult to sell any machines to restaurants, as they did not have any demand for the product.

Regular Coffee........15c
Espresso......................25c
Cappuccino..............35c
. Pastries as available .

At that time there were a few coffee houses across the country, but they served mainly as "beatnik" hangouts and coffee was incidental to the whole setting. If they served any espresso, it would be unrecognizable by our present standards. So opening a coffee house where people would go just to drink espresso and not to listen to poetry or music was a new concept.

As there was no precedent in this country for this kind of a venture, or none that we knew about, we had to invent what American people would drink. And one of the things that we realized right away was that espresso, like they drink in Italy, was not it!

You see, for Americans, coffee was a beverage with unending refills, while Italians considered coffee as a quick pick-me-up stimulant.

There was no way that Americans would accept a small, one ounce cup of strong, black coffee!

After three hard years of educating mainly young people in the finer art of consuming espresso based drinks, mostly cappuccinos and mochas, our efforts finally paid off in 1973 with sales of $310,000! Considering that cappuccino was only 45 cents a cup that wasn't too bad!

In 1976 Alex & Oksana opened another location, also in Berkeley. In 1981, at the expiration of the lease and sales of $400,000, the landlord decided that he wanted that location for himself and would not renew the lease. Not knowing anything about the business, he hired some of our employees and proceeded to develop the business further. By 1988, it became one of the busiest espresso operations in the country, serving about 4000 drinks a day from three 3 group espresso machines! Since then, from what he learned from our operation, the former landlord opened about 30 more stores under the name of "Espresso Roma"; and one of HIS former managers, with the help of another entrepreneur with money, opened another 30-some chain of shops under the name of "Espresso Royale".

This shows what can be done with this business if you get a good understanding of its principles and apply them!

In 1974, after reading an article on espresso written by Alex, a young man came down from Seattle wanting to buy an espresso machine and open a similar operation in Seattle. Not knowing the business, he asked Alex to train him in all phases of the operation. He went back and opened the first true coffee house in Seattle, the Café Allegro. His name was Dave Olsen. In 1982 Dave got together with Howard Schultz and opened an espresso bar in the Columbia Center Building in Seattle. That was the birth of Starbucks as we know it today. Mr. Schultz attributes his company's success in great part to Dave Olsen's early dedication to espresso.

Meanwhile, in 1981, Alex and Oksana opened the first true espresso bar in a downtown financial district, the "Espresso Experience" in the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. It became an instant success, with first year sales of $320,000. Not bad for a total investment of $37,000 and cappuccinos still selling at only 95 cents! For the first two years, "Espresso Experience" was the only game in the San Francisco business district, but after a while, scores of imitators began to open all around, among them Pasqua and Oh La La.

In 1986, the Fisenko's sold all units in California and moved to Portland, Oregon, where they opened the first true espresso bar in town, the "American Espresso" by Portland State University. Impressed by the 200 pounds of espresso coffee that was being used weekly in that location; Boyd Coffee Company hired Alex as a consultant to help them organize their espresso program. He worked with them for over a year, opening several espresso bars that would serve to show Boyd's Coffee expertise in the new espresso trend. Now, Boyd's Coffee has one of the most successful espresso wholesale programs in the country.

Summary

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Alex & Associates Today

Alex passed his legacy and his knowledge and passion to his wife Oksana & their son Michael. Together they now serve as freelance consultants, teaching individuals and corporations how to open and operate successful espresso bars and how to increase sales in existing locations.

Alex & Associates are based out of Portland, Oregon and can be reached at 1-866-590-9423 during business hours or by email anytime. Contact us today to arm yourself with the tools you'll need to make your dream of owning a successful coffee shop or drive-thru a reality!

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Our Customers' Experiences Tell You About Alex & Associates

Dear Alex,

Hello. An update for you on our progress six month after opening. Thanks to your expertise in planning, design and training we have been running like a well oiled machine. The biggest thing I noticed was how fast we can move a line as compared to our not far-away competition! This morning we did $175 in about one hour with only two of us behind the counter, and no one waited longer than one minute! Some places I have been have four people working and I had to wait 5 minutes or more to get a simple "latte" and it did not taste as good as ours!

Here are some of the comments that we hear everyday from our customers:

"Your taste is so much better than Starbucks!"

"Your prices are very reasonable and your drinks taste much better than from the competitor down the street" ~ which used to be "Aromas" until they went out of business after we opened.

"Why does your Latte taste so much better than in the other espresso bars?"

Alex, remember that you trained myself and my people and we never made an espresso before! Now, I would say that my employees are some of the best baristas in town! Some of my customers tell me that Beth (remember her, she does not even drink coffee) makes them even better than me!

The menu that you set up for me is still the same. It is very easy for the customer to understand, and it is certainly "espresso friendly". I raised my prices by 15 cents, and nobody even noticed. We are able to maintain consistently our espresso sales at 80% or better of our total sales by following the techniques that you taught us.

Though our location, as you said, is not the best around, I am very pleased with our progress. I believe that we will hit $1000 a day when it gets colder and the rest of the center is leased out. I am also pleased that we were able to reach our break-even point during the summer months, without any foot traffic and the center leased only 25% [of capacity]. Sorry I got so wordy.

Call you later!
Erich