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Kia Murdoch/Emily Cornell
25 October 2012
Ethnographic Methods
Fieldwork Assignment #2
The Various Uses of Coal Creek Coffee Co.
Section A: Research Process and Locations Description
Coffee shops in America can serve several purposes, sometimes simultaneously,
depending on the region and type of city they are located in (i.e. college town, v. non-college
town). With this in mind, we chose to observe the downtown location of Coal Creek Coffee Co.
here in Laramie, Wyoming, to observe the purpose(s) this coffee shop is used for, and determine
the population that spends time there.
First and foremost, we focused on the atmosphere of Coal Creek, as it was referred to by
those observed during our time there. We noted the lighting, mood of the music, décor, and
attitude of the barista staff in order to understand the intended audience (it could be argued that
the audience affects the atmosphere rather than vice-versa, but we did not spend enough time
observing in order to determine if this was the case, so for the purposes of this project, we chose
to assume that the audience was affected by the intent of the staff).
Secondly, we observed the behaviors of the customers in Coal Creek. Observation was a
tricky process, as we had neither the time or permission to have every occupant sign a consent
form and ask them questions about their purpose, and because in American culture, repeated or
lengthy stares (observation) of others in a coffee shop is usually met with discomfort. Therefore,
we had to make quick, sweeping glances of the room, taking in behavior, then waiting a few
moments for the next visual sweep. This was also necessary due to the fact that we observed that
the other occupants, customers and baristas, also did occasional visual sweeps, and cultural
norms dictate that one should not meet the gaze of a stranger too many times in a row (a cultural
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assumption with little research to back it up, however in this short time frame, some assumptions
about our own culture must be made in order to achieve the goal of this paper).
Coal Creek Coffee Co. has two locations in Laramie, but we decided to focus on the
downtown (and original) café, located on 1st Street and Grand Avenue. The café fills an old brick
building; tall enough to house two stories, but instead is one story with a high ceiling. Inside,
there is an extensive kitchen area, with room for baking, large coffee and espresso machines, and
room for baristas to take orders and remove items from glass display cases. Seating is available
in an L-shape around the kitchen area. A short hallway, also L-shaped, allows for privacy into
the small, unisex bathroom, and the back exit, primarily used by employees. Further interior
aspects will be relayed in the separate observation sections, as they are an important part of the
ambiance. Outside seating (in the form of metal tables and chairs attached to the concrete) is
available, both next to the street directly outside the cafe, as well as around the corner in a small,
public plaza.
Section B: Emily’s Data and Analysis
I went to Coal Creek at 8 in the morning on a Sunday. When I first arrived, there were no
other customers. The only other people in the shop were the people that work there. Relaxed,
alternative rock type music played loudly, and the sounds of the kitchen could be heard. Workers
talking, cleaning, and possibly baking were the main kitchen sounds I heard. Mostly I heard them
laughing and talking amongst each other.
The lack of customers present made observing the décor and layout of the room easier.
The floors have a worn look to them. Scratches and discoloring in the wood contribute to the
worn look. There are wooden chairs at the tables; they too have the same worn look as the floors.
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The seats of the chairs are cushioned; parts of the cushioning have been worn down to just the
foam part that is usually under the covering.
The tables also look worn around the edges where people have probably bumped into
them repeatedly. The central part of the tables look less used, but some scratches are present.
There are quite a few tables, and most of them have two seats with them. Near the front of the
shop some tables are pushed together.
A large red couch resides near the back of the shop with a worn wooden coffee table in
front of it sitting on a red rug. The rug also shows signs of use; the color is faded from being
walked on frequently. All of the furniture in the room shows signs of wear and tear, yet they
have a welcoming feel. They are like pieces on might find in their grandmother’s basement.
In the front of the shop there is a shelf with bags of coffee that are available for purchase.
Where customers can make orders sits to the left and back from the shelf. Pastries, quiche, and
other breakfast items sit readily for purchase on the counter near where the cashier stands. A sign
hangs over the cashier with the prices and types of coffees people can buy along with the prices
of the breakfast items. The cashier stands behind a glass case that is full of an assortment of
muffins and pastries.
When customers come in and order, the sound of the espresso machine becomes the most
prominent sound in the room. The two customers that came did not come together but the
employees seemed to know them because they asked them if they wanted the usual. After they
got their food they sat at different tables and pulled out either a laptop or a tablet. Neither
appeared to be a student, they both appeared to be around the age of 40. Both were working on
something, however, they had papers in front of them, not textbooks. They both sat near the large
window that makes up the majority of the front of the shop.
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Looking outside through the front window, nobody passed by walking, running, biking,
or driving. The customers sitting in the shop did not look outside and watch for anything to
happen. They were very involved in their work.
A man and woman couple came in and ordered coffee and breakfast. They sat right in
front of the large front window as well. They were dressed for cold weather: down vests, hiking
boots, thick pants, and gloves. I could hear them talking quietly amongst themselves. The music
was much louder than they were. They looked outside frequently even though nothing was
happening. The shops across the street were all dark and closed. The couple’s disappearance
came as quickly as their appearance. The woman of the couple got the rest of her tea in a to-go
cup.
Another couple comes shortly after the first depart. The woman of this couple was
wearing pajamas and the man was wearing sweat pants. They too order coffee and pie. They sit
further away from the window; more toward the front counter. Their noise level was much
louder than the first couple’s. They also left faster than the first couple.
After sitting in this coffee shop for just under an hour I noticed that the customers that
came in were all probably over the age of 30. They all made small talk with the employees and
were quiet and courteous to fellow patrons. When I left the same two people that had first arrived
were still working but had not gotten a second coffee or breakfast item. A few people were on
their way in, and they also looked to be over the age of 30.
Section C: Kia’s Data and Analysis
I chose to observe the downtown Coal Creek branch on a Monday evening, from
approximately 7:50 to 9 pm. I began by noting the ambiance of the café, including lighting,
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décor, furnishings, and attitude of the barista staff. Once this was established, I shifted my focus
to the activities of the customers in the café, using discreet methods to gather the purposes of the
various persons in attendance.
Ambiance is affected by several factors, as noted above, but the first aspect I noticed was
the color scheme of the room. The walls are an old, faded-orange brick, except the three short
interior walls enclosing the restroom: only one story each and interconnected (as opposed to the
two-story height of the exterior walls), painted two shades of brown, and separated by a maroon
wall runner approximately 1/3 of the way up the wall. The flooring is a faded wood paneling and
the high ceiling is painted dark brown (partially disguises the industrial piping crisscrossing the
ceiling). Décor was rustic, including old versions of skis, bikes, sleds, and coffee cans.
Lighting was my next observation. The café was well lit, despite the three large picture
windows lining the wall facing the street that let in the darkness of the evening. However, the
lighting was a warm, candlelight color, created by low hung lights and ‘art-display lights’ that
focused on bare (and covered) spaces of wall where are could (and does) hang on display. The
kitchen area is lighted in the same warm, yellow light, though it is noticeably darker than the rest
of the café. This observation came as somewhat as a surprise, as my assumption was that most
kitchens are more brightly lit than the surrounding café/restaurant seating area. This minor detail
is important, especially because the kitchen is only separated from the general seating area by
counter tops and display cases (as opposed to full height walls), making (most) of the processes
semi-visible to the customers. While observing lighting, I became aware of the music playing in
the background. During my stay, it was played at a low enough level to not be distracting, but
loud enough that the notes and lyrics were clearly discernable, despite the consistent chatter and
whir of coffee machinery in the background. Though speakers are not clearly visible, I conclude
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that they are laced strategically due to the overall excellent quality of the sound: evenly
distributed throughout the café with high quality bass v. treble balance.
Next, I shifted my attention to the furnishings of the seated area. The tables came in two
types: either circular in a light wood, held up by a central column (both large and small sizes), or
colorfully tiled tables with patterns of nature in rectangular or hexagonal shape (also held up by a
central column and in a variety of sizes). The chairs were all a matching dark wood in a very
general, non-showy shape. In addition, one maroon couch was placed on the far wall,
accompanied by a low coffee table, and one armchair was in existence in the opposite corner,
colored by a beige fabric with maroon and brown polka dots, continuing the color scheme of the
café.
Finally, the ambiance was completed by the relaxed, unhurried attitude of the threeperson barista staff. During my stay, the baristas were three young men of college age, wearing
casual, eccentric outfits (eccentric used here to describe outfits with clashing colors and patterns,
less well-known company or music logos, and varied styles of hats amongst the three
gentlemen). They spoke in soft voices, and did not move hastily (though this factor may have
been affected by the slow but steady stream of customers – a busier time of day might change the
level of hurriedness).
Activities of the customers were my second focus on my evening visit. I noted that of the
17 customers sitting at tables and on the couch during my stay, only two looked to be older than
the age of 30, and these two men sat together, discussing animatedly a stapled set of papers. Both
had purchased a hot drink. Four of the small tables were occupied by one person each, three of
whom worked on personal laptops while the other poured over a book and papers (all four
persons appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties, and had also purchased either a drink or a
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pastry). Two tables were occupied by two young persons who alternated between personal
computer work and reading from what appeared to be textbooks. Finally, one small table
serviced three young women, two of whom appeared to be helping the third practice interview
questions. Other behavioral observations include: most customers retained their overcoats and
warm hats, or at least wore a warm layer of clothing (while the three baristas wore only one thin
layer of clothing), some wore personal headphones, and all had purchased something.
My own conclusions from my limited observation are that Coal Creek in the evenings is
primarily a solo and group study place for students of the University of Wyoming and LCCC,
potentially more welcoming than an academic library, and offering refreshments.
Section D: Joint Reflection and Comparative Analysis
In comparing our separate observations, we first picked up on the differences we noted in
the coffee shop, both blaring and subtle. The first of which was the very different age range.
Where Emily’s experience included all adults ranging from 30 upwards, Kia’s experience
included the opposite – mostly young adults between the ages of 18-30, with only two persons of
17 over the age of 30. This led us to conclude that Coal Creek serves a wide variety of people,
and groups similar in age and purpose (i.e. breakfast v. studying) tended to spend time there with
their relative peers. We also gathered that this coffee shop seemed to fit both the needs of a small
town and of a university town.
The second difference we noted was the difference in quantity of customers and time
spent. In Emily’s observation, most customers came, ordered, ate, and left quickly. Only two of
the 8-10 persons she observed remained at the shop for the duration of her stay. On the other
hand, in Kia’s experience, her 45-minute stay was the shortest duration of any customer – all
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others she observed had arrived before her, and remained after she left. There were 17-19
customers during Kia’s evening stay.
Thirdly, we noticed the more subtle difference of ambiance. Whereas in Emily’s
observation, the music seemed loud, and the staff talked and laughed loudly, Kia’s observation
noted a relaxed, quieter atmosphere with little disturbance from the various machines behind the
counter. We concluded that while the talking and laughing versus the quiet mood of the baristas
was measureable and discernable (perhaps affected by hour of day, day of the week, and
customer purpose), the loudness of the music and machines may have been personal
biases/differences in opinion rather than measureable data.
The similarities we noted were subtler than the differences (although it could be argued
instead that noticing differences first is part of human nature, but that is a topic for a different
time). We noted that our impressions of the physical ambiance were very similar, although we
used different words to describe it. Emily used “worn but welcoming”, whereas Kia described a
“warm, relaxed atmosphere.” After discussion, we realized we both were striving to achieve the
same description.
This brought us to a second type of analysis: the focus of each researcher. We both set
out with the same two questions (ambiance and behavior), but returned with notably different
styles. Emily focused more on the customers: behavior, clothing, volume of voices, and length of
stay, whereas Kia was much more thorough on her ambiance section. From this observation of
ourselves, we concluded that joint-anthropology could be very useful in that different parties,
though they may have been trained in the same way, have individual styles that can offer very
different sets of field notes.
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In final conclusion, we decided that through our (minimal) observation of the downtown
location of Coal Creek Coffee Co., it was a flexible shop, serving both community members
looking for a place to eat and chat, as well as a spot for academic pursuits such as studying and
completing homework. However, though the variety of customers was larger than either Kia or
Emily expected, the shop has a very definite ambient character of its own that possibly turns
away (or at least does not attract) other sectors of the Laramie community.