The Busy Bean moves to new Soap Lake location
The Busy Bean owner, Kenzie Balentine, smiles and waves as she helps a customer on her shop’s first day at its new location on May 25.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
The Busy Bean was busy on its first day at its new location in Soap Lake on May 25.
Kristina McCrady and Kenzie Balentine stand outside The Busy Bean’s new location.
Kenzie Balentine, owner of The Busy Bean, poses with a cup of her coffee.
The Busy Bean serves coffee from Dillanos Coffee Roasters, based in Sumner.
SOAP LAKE — The Busy Bean, a coffee shop in Soap Lake, got a new look and a new address this week.
“Every customer new or returning, we take the time to (ask) ‘how's your day’, ‘how's your job’, ‘how's things’; we actually care. It's not just serving a cup of coffee for us, it's getting to know those people and learn the ins and outs of your community you’re serving,” said Kenzie Balentine, owner of The Busy Bean. “So I think just letting people know we offer this great cup of coffee with great customer service as well, I think that's huge.”
Nearly three years to the day from the opening of her first stand in Soap Lake, Balentine held a grand opening at her new location on Wednesday.
The stand, now at 320 Sixth Ave. SE, sits not far from its previous home of 420 Daisy St. S. In the move, Balentine chose to buy a whole new building rather than move the old stand, and said she thought she might as well upgrade to a bigger and better stand for the more open lot.
While Soap Lake is home for The Busy Bean, Balentine owns two other shops around the Basin. She opened her second Busy Bean location in Ephrata in December 2020 and bought Dream Acres Espresso in Moses Lake. Balentine said she plans to convert Dream Acres into a Busy Bean later this year.
“I had a goal, and I hit it,” said Balentine. “So, every year I said, we're gonna do one per year. And I've added one each year.”
Balentine said that owning her own business has been a dream since she was a child. In fact, she started saving money at the age of 13 for the future and whatever business she chose to run.
“When I was in high school, I started working at different coffee shops and just kind of getting a feel for sit-down, drive-thru, different layouts,” said Balentine. “And I was like, you know, I could do this, this could be me.”
She spoke about how she also wanted to have something that she could share with her family. She explained she has younger relatives and that she hopes it could be a business that they could work at or even own one day.
“I wanted to give something down to the generations in the family. So, one day, if they ever wanted to work here, if they ever wanted to do their own, you know, they can continue to grow with a family business hopefully,” said Balentine.
Balentine said she feels that her business stands out among other coffee shops because of its community involvement. From contributions to community partners to the kindness of her staff, she feels that her shops are one of a kind.
She noted that her staff has the same heart for giving as she does and that they give back to the community often. She said some of that giving back includes free drinks for homeless individuals in the community or to those that just deserve a thank you for what they do for the community.
“Our girls kind of have the same ethic as I do when it comes to giving and hard work,” said Balentine. “So I think that really puts us different from everyone else.”
Kristina McCrady, a barista at The Busy Bean, said she has been with the business since a month after its initial opening in 2019. McCrady said she never saw herself as a barista but after being offered the job by Balentine, she fell in love with making coffee.
“The coffee is great, it's amazing coffee,” said McCrady. “We all try our best to be very customer-friendly, we like conversing. I feel like we just have a really good environment and Kenzie really pushes us to be the best that we can when we come to work.”
The Busy Bean serves coffee from Dillanos Coffee Roasters, based in Sumner; the specific bean they use is called Dillon.
“I would say, give us a chance, come down and meet the girls,” said Balentine. “It's not
just, you're in and out. We don't want that, we want returning customers where we know everyone.”
Kenzie said she could not have made it this far without the support of her team which included her baristas, her fiance and contractors.
The Busy Bean in Soap Lake and Ephrata is open Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Rebecca Pettingill can be reached via email at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.
