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Able Coffee & Provisions is opening where Free Solo Coffee Co. recently closed.
Photo courtesy Google Maps
Able Coffee & Provisions is opening where Free Solo Coffee Co. recently closed.

Serial entrepreneur to open coffee shop

Posted online

Where one coffee shop closed, another plans to open.

Rance Loftsgard, a serial entrepreneur with experience in apparel, sales consulting and the nonprofit and restaurant industries, is opening Able Coffee & Provisions.

Loftsgard said this morning he expects to launch the coffee shop by March 15 at 3049 S. Fremont Ave. in the Fremont Center. The site is the previous home of Free Solo Coffee Co., which recently closed after less than a year in business.

“Coffee is a huge passion of mine,” he said. “It has this kind of homogenizing quality to it.”

Loftsgard said he gained an appreciation for coffee while living in Indonesia working on tsunami relief efforts. With strict alcohol laws, he said juice bars and coffee shops were popular meeting spots in the country.

“I fell in love with the idea of connecting with people,” he said.

After moving back to the states, Loftsgard became involved with Elixr Coffee Roasters, in Philadelphia. He remained close with the ownership of the company after exiting, and now, Able Coffee & Provisions will sell coffee from Elixr.

Loftsgard said Elixr is becoming more known in the third wave of coffee movement, an initiative to produce high-quality, artisanal beverages. Elixr works with farmers across the globe to source coffee in direct-trade relationships.

“It’s part of my narrative and part of my story, but it’s also some of the best coffee in the world,” he said.

Loftsgard said he’ll make bread in-house for a seasonal rotation of sandwiches to complement coffee at the shop, a nod to previous entrepreneurial experience.

Loftsgard was a finalist in a contest dubbed A Gentleman’s Call, run by Ketel One and GQ, for his entrepreneurial idea to open artisanal bakeries in impoverished areas. He’s also been featured in Vice and Entrepreneur.

“I vicariously learned a lot about bread,” he said. “Any food I do is going to be made from scratch.”

Able Coffee’s menu will comprise single-origin, hand-poured coffees, he said. Working with Elixr, he hopes to expand the third wave of coffee movement to the Queen City.

“I think there’s still another level on the national stage that we haven’t really gotten to,” he said. “We deserve the best.”

At the Fremont Center, Loftsgard said he signed a three-year lease with landlord Tillman Redevelopment for $2,500 per month to occupy 1,600 square feet behind the former Heritage Cafeteria. He expects to invest $15,000 to $20,000 in the venture with minority partner Chris Rozier, who has hospitality experience via O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC.

The name Able Coffee & Provisions also is a play on Loftsgard’s various entrepreneurial endeavors.

“Able is this idea in my head of the enduring American entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. “No matter how many times we fall down, we’re able to give it another go.”

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