It’s a Thursday morning and Please & Thank You on East Market is packed. Not one free table in this charming place, full of records, beautiful refurbished tables with people working on their laptops, chatter, music and great natural light. Oh, and coffee and food. We can’t forget that part.
Brooke Vaughn and Jason Pierce are the husband-wife team who own and operate Please & Thank You. Brooke, a former Starbucks barista and restaurant manager, met Jason, a former record store owner and graphic designer. They met in Indianapolis, where their job locations were next door to each other. They met over coffee. They met over records. They fell in love, got married and they hatched a plan.
They were moving to Louisville, cold. And by cold, I mean not moving for a job. Just moving there and letting themselves find the right job. After a few fits and starts, a temporary move to Nashville and back and a new baby girl, they came back to Louisville.
They had a vision of a combination record store and coffee shop/restaurant. Brooke had a 27-page business plan that was long and uber-detailed, detailing everything from the color of the paint on the walls, to the smells you would experience when you walked in the door, to the look of the t-shirt. The vision was definitely there.
They fortuitously met Gil Holland (the unofficial mayor of Nulu) who helped them to establish their own place in the corner space of the former Wayside Christian Mission on East Market, and they opened Please & Thank You in May 2011.
Why the name? It goes back to their mission: Keep it Small. Keep it Simple. Keep it Personal. Be nice and good things will happen.
In this era of electronic communication, basic interpersonal skills and manners have fallen by the wayside. And considering that many people see their barista more than they see their own parents, Brooke wanted to offer consistently good counter service. Her baristas know their customers’ names, what they drink and what is going on in their lives. And, they operate with a modicum of basic manners, hence the name, Please & Thank You.
Jason’s section is quite obviously the vinyl record section of the shop. He has a buffet of fantastic music here and a separate listening room, complete with turntables (nothing digital, gasp!).
In His and Hers fashion, the rest of the space is devoted to coffee, food and treats. Brooke has a full menu here that changes every three weeks.
Her treats are delicious: scones, cookies, brownies, muffins, you name it. Her chocolate chip cookies are her best seller. As she says, “You don’t sell a dozen coffees with one customer, but you can sell a dozen cookies.”
Brooke has launched her own line of BIY (“Bake It Yourself) chocolate chip cookies and brownies. People rave about their chocolate chip cookies, a recipe that took Brooke over two years to perfect. She will not divulge the recipe, but she will give you her own version of cut n’ slice cookies with these BIY. (They are absolutley delicious; Potters give them two thumbs up.)
What happens next? A second location? A restaurant? More BIY products? Please?
Whatever that answer is, we all need to say a collective “thank you” to them for bringing us their vision.
For more information about Please and Thank You, visit their website: www.pleaseandthankyoulouisville.com.
