Big Chair Coffee Shop Opens in Anacostia

During the biggest recession since the Great Depression, a local Ethiopian family is bucking the trend. They are poised, Monday morning, to open a new coffee shop.

And they’re choosing to do it in Washington, D.C.'s neighborhood of Anacostia.

Big Chair Coffee is located across the street from the landmark Big Chair which has been part of the landscape in Anacostia since 1959. The 19.5-foot-tall chair was erected as an attention-getter for a furniture company.

Ayehubizu Yimenu and her children researched the need for a coffee shop and found that Anacostia had none of the relaxing lounges that exist in parts of the city. They will sell small lattes for about two dollars a cup, while offering a cozy lounge, finger food, and free wireless service for notebook computers.

“You know, coffee first came from Ethiopia,” explained Ms. Yimenu, who works full time as a registered nurse. Her shop will offer coffee grown in her native country, as well as other blends.

Big Chair Coffee will open Monday at 7:00 a.m. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue – right across the street from the Big Chair.

by John Henrehan\MYFOXDC

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