Coffee sellers know their customers Coffee sellers know their customers (April 15, 2005)

Couple spends long days with cart at train station

Kevin Hagen

At 4:45 a.m. it's still dark at the Mountain View Station as a couple in matching black rain gear unload a coffee cart from the back of a trailer in the parking lot.

They unload cups, drinks, coolers, and boxes of food. As the sky turns from black to a foggy blue glow in the east, they fire up the generators and set the coffee brewing.

Since last September, Aki and Sho Saito have been rolling out their coffee cart every morning before the trains come, before most people even begin their commute.

The two know many of their customers by name, including daily commuters and rail workers. They often stay to chat about subjects ranging from politics to mountaineering, baseball (one of Sho's favorite topics) and the weather, an important topic in the outdoor coffee cart business. Today is clear but cold; yesterday it rained, and the Saitos' business was open as usual, completely covered in tarpaulin tents.

Since the mid-1990's, Sho worked as a guide for Japanese tourists visiting California, which is how he met Aki. The two met five years ago when Aki came to California as part of a tour group. Aki stayed, and the two married.

When the 9/11 attacks happened in New York, the local tourism industry floundered, Aki said. They bought the cart last September when Sho saw a for-sale ad in the newspaper, and decided to try a new line of work. The couple obtained all the necessary permits and opened shop on the platform.

Some regulars, like Ed Reidy, come every day for their daily coffee. One customer has his order bagged and waiting for him every day at 7 a.m., because he always gets the same pastry-coffee combination.

Michael Ramirez started commuting from Sunnyvale a few months ago. On his third day of the new routine, he arrived at the cart without any money for coffee. Sho and Aki let him run a tab. "How often do people remember your name on the third day?" he said.

Aki and Sho work 13 to 14-hour days at the coffee cart, and sometimes make over 200 transactions. Still, they greet everyone with a smile. They have found their place in the commuter community: familiar friendly faces in the same place, every day.

Sho says he plans to save money from his current enterprise in order to open a store in Mountain View. "Then we get to stay inside," he said, as he bundled up against the morning chill.

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