Old Crow Coffee Co

Old Crow Coffee Co. owner Stephanie Vu might not live in New Westminster, but she's no stranger to the city. Stephanie worked in the area for three years before deciding it was the right place to open up her own coffee shop. Stephanie chose New West for two reasons: first, she explains, she genuinely likes the city; second, she felt the area was in dire need of a good, independent coffee shop.

She and her two partners (who are not involved in the front-end of the shop) were initially investigating storefronts in East Van, but when the trio drove by a vacant shop on their way to Queensbourough one day, they found an opportunity they couldn't pass up. And the rest, as they say, was history. “We booked an appointment to look at the place the next day,” says Stephanie, “And when we saw it, we knew immediately that this was where we wanted to open our coffee shop.”

Once they had decided on a location, the next thing for the partners to tackle was finding a name that suited them, and the space. Stephanie explains, “My partners and I are very different, but we wanted a name that meant something to all of us, and we all like crows. In fact, we all have crow tattoos. There are a lot of old proverbs that use the name ‘old crow,’ and when one of my partners suggested it one day, it clicked with all of us.”