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Coffee bar owner turns theft into community-wide fundraising effort
When Nervous Dog Coffee Bar owner Michael Litt caught someone stealing from one the barista's tip jars in November 2013, he didn't call the police. He chose to start a food collection drive for the man instead and that initiative has escalated into a major fundraising effort, helping the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank among others. (Photo courtesy of the Nervous Dog).
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 20, 2014
When a small business owner catches someone stealing, one of two things is likely to happen: The police are called or the person is let off the hook but asked never to return to the store.
That’s why Nervous Dog Coffee Bar owner and founder Michael Litt’s reaction to a November 2013 theft drew so much attention. A security camera captured a man entering the West Akron store, stealing from the barista’s tip jar while her back was turned and then exiting the store.
Instead of calling the police, Litt organized a food drive for the man.
“I figured anyone desperate enough to steal tips from a barista trying to make money for college really needed help,” Litt said. “So I went on Facebook, posted the video, saying I didn’t want to press charges but that I wanted to collect food for the man. I said that he was also welcome to come in and have free coffee for a year.”
Litt said the barista who had her tips stolen was the first to donate. The campaign drew a bit of controversy, he said, with some saying he was rewarding a thief.
“I figured if the guy never showed up we would just give the food to foodbank,” he said.
The controversy helped get the word out and before Litt knew what happened the incident was being discussed by Erin Kennedy at Cleveland’s WKYC, and then nationally on the Today show with Matt Lauer, NPR, Yahoo News the Huffington Post as well as other outlets.
Hundreds of pounds of items were collected, and after the thief didn’t return everything was dropped off at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
“Everyone at the foodbank was wonderful, they gave us a tour and we learned all the different things that it does to help others,” said Litt. Shortly after, he introduced the foodbank to Nervous Dog, Too, which was created late in the summer of 2013 to offer a fundraising option for local organizations.
Nervous Dog, Too worked with the foodbank to create a special branded bag of coffee, entitled “Coffee with a Purpose,” which is sold in the Nervous Dog retail shops as well as on the Nervous Dog, Too website (www.nervousdogtoo.org). A portion of the profits goes to the foodbank.
“I think the formula has been a win-win,” said Dan Flowers, president and chief executive officer at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. “Every dollar raised provides four meals and the consumers get a great product for their money so the effort supports the foodbank and a local business at the same time.”
The foodbank is not the only organization that has benefited from the efforts of Nervous Dog, Too. Litt and his partner, Akron native Michael Reiss, a management consultant for Fortune 100 companies, have come up with a variety of fundraising ideas.
“Our first client was Our Lady of the Elms,” said Reiss. “The goal was to help the school put on a fundraiser by offering something that parents could really use like coffee.
“I am a parent myself and my kids were always coming home and trying to sell us stuff we didn’t need such as magazines and wrapping paper. We drink coffee everyday.”
In the case of Our Lady of the Elms, the school designed a bag for the coffee and the children were tasked with selling it. “The coffee is marketed with the Elm’s own branding providing a sense of pride and ownership in the product for the school," said Reiss.
Those at The Lippman School took this idea to a much different level, with teacher John Bennett creating a problem-based learning curriculum that taught the students what it takes to actually market a product.
The project was initially created to raise money to improve the safety of the school playground. “The students worked with teaching fellow, John Bennett, to come up with a plan to pay for the improvements,” said Sam Chestnut, head of the school.
Chestnut said Litt is a member of the school board and when the students discussed some proposals for raising funds he suggested the Nervous Dog, Too. Instead of selling bags of coffee with the Nervous Dog logo, the students designed their own bags.
Chestnut said Bennett set up Skype chats for the children with marketing experts in Washington D.C., helped them conduct their own market survey to determine what type of coffee would sell the best and worked with them as they designed their own bag. He said the children even came up with their own custom tagline, “Enjoy Our Blend With A Smile.”
They are now in third grade and “The Lippman Blend” is being sold online and over the counter at the Nervous Dog coffee bars, with a portion of the proceeds going to the school as well as the foodbank. The profits from the first year only went toward the upgrade of the playground.
With the planning and design complete, the entire school, K – 8, is involved.
“It is an ongoing effort,” said Jeanne Destro, advancement coordinator at Lippman. “We’re also doing online sales, and store sales at Nervous Dog Coffee Bar locations in Akron and Stow.
“Adding the foodbank component has encouraged our kids to sell more coffee because they know part of the proceeds are going to help people in the community,” Destro said.
Litt is also looking into other partnerships including one with public radio station 91.3 The Summit. “We have been discussing an idea that would benefit, our Rock & Recovery channel, which mixes music and a message for those who have issues pertaining to addiction or trauma of any kind,” said Tommy Bruno, general manager.
“We are looking at customizing the coffee as an incentive for people around the world to support the channel.”
Litt is working with Array Creative in Akron, which specializes in brand strategy and retail communication, to strengthen his outreach efforts. “They are an incubator for several local businesses and they volunteered to help us with our pro bono efforts.
“We are also in discussions with the Akron Children’s Hospital Foundation, Autism Society, the Battered Women’s Shelter, and others to see what efforts we can come up with to keep the fundraising for the foodbank going all year long,” said Litt.
There are two Nervous Dog locations; Litt opened the first store in 2006 at 1530 W. Market St. in Akron, after leaving McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, where he had worked for 11 years.
“I was always passionate about coffee and I always wanted to get involved in the local community,” said Litt, who took over the location of the former Coco’s Coffee.
“I named the business after the defunct record label, Nervous Dog Records and we wanted it to have the same feeling that the Irish pubs in Ireland have, which I discovered when I was visiting the country before I opened the coffee bar.”
The Akron location features all types of coffee, pastries and desserts at night. “We recently partnered with Baker Blvd. which is creating our evening dessert line.”
Litt opened his second location in Stow at 4161 Steels Pointe in 2010. The store offers a much larger menu, including breakfast and Boar’s Head deli sandwiches, salads and smoothies.
The coffee is produced locally and roasted fresh twice per week--the proprietary flavors include the flagship “Nervous Dog” house blend and the medium-light “Rubber City” blend.
Litt said he would be expanding the menu at the Akron location in the future so that it more closely resembles the one at Stow.
As for the thief who started it all, Litt said he did return to the scene of the crime in February but not to collect his food. “He repeated his original activity and we have it on tape. It was disappointing, but the good news is we went from trying to help one person to helping the foodbank and many other organizations.”
In fact the Nervous Dog, Too has gotten so big that Litt and Reiss just leased space in the basement of the former Acme Bread Factory at North Union Street.
“I don’t regret my efforts to help this guy at all,” said Litt.