est. February 15th, 2019
From the beginning.
In October of 2018, Daniel found motivation to create a space to gather. He attended Christopher Newport from 2013-2017 and longed for a local space where he could create and meet new people. In October of 2018 he found inspiration to foster connections and make it happen.
Naturally, coffee houses offer great community spaces; but Daniel lacked the depth of knowledge regarding coffee, and he needed someone who understood the craftsmanship of coffee. He met Alex Hoyes through various places. They attended the same church, played in the band together, and he worked at a small local coffee shop that Daniel frequented. He was brilliant and local to the Peninsula. Better yet, they both were alumni of Christopher Newport. As we’ve progressed and grown our business, Alex’ vast culinary knowledge has been revealed. Our product would not be what it is without his blend of artistry and scientific methodology.
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After they met, that is where the story really begins. God has been present in this plan from the start, and we began to see Him provide in very real ways. Within weeks, we found a silent financial partner to help us get started. Then, we needed a space. We looked at a couple of different locations, but none were fitting.. We were regulars at a small boutique in town, and we had expressed to the owner about how we were on the hunt for a location. One day, she shared her desire to take a step back from her boutique. She was looking for someone to take her space. We jumped at the opportunity because it was located in Port Warwick of Newport News, a location we loved. In January, we signed the lease for the space, flipped the space, and launched Canvas Coffee all by February 15th, 2019. It was an opening with a BANG! People were all about it!
The First Year and more
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The First year in business was a blast. We made A LOT of mistakes, but learned along the way. We are grateful for the team that started with us, with them we created the foundation to a welcoming atmosphere. We developed a community in our space and people began to be real loyal to our brand. We pride ourselves in just being normal people serving others. Challenges presented themselves in the beginning, but we were always transparent and our people loved that.. On our one year anniversary we were so excited to see the community come together and celebrate!
Exactly 1 month after the one year anniversary COVID-19 struck, sending us into lock down. The community worried, but we saw a challenge to overcome. We were resilient thus far and nothing was going to stop us now. All of the logistics were against us, but thankfully we had our people beside us. We had our roaster and a small supply of green coffee beans at the time, so we fired up the roaster and got to work. We began working on a new product, our first coffee blend which we called First Flight. Though we felt gravity pulling us down, we were determined to fly. We designed the packaging and released our first product online and hand delivered to all that bought in the area! The community began to lift Canvas up and we felt it.
We began shipping around the country. With that success, other new local shops requested us to train them and wholesale our product to them. We are currently developing our wholesale partnership further to not only support those local partners (shops in Carrollton, Hampton, and Norfolk) with products, but also support them in every way possible. Though our doors were literally closed, the community never stopped. People need community more than ever. We will always serve.
Now that we have passed our second anniversary, our team needs more space. The journey continues.