TO: Dr. T. Fishman
FROM: Melissa Palmer, Casey Smith, and Lindsey Hall
DATE: July 22, 2005
SUBJECT: Organizational Profile and Needs Assessment
Introduction
Our task is to create an informative website for the customers of the Hot Java Coffee House located in Greer, SC. Hot Java needs a website that will provide customers with information on events and specials that are running each month. Utilizing this web site, the owner of Hot Java, Ruthie Henkin, hopes to excite the customers about special events, as well as making them feel as though they are a part of this "home away from home".
Organizational History
The idea to open Hot Java came to Ruthie Henkin in October 2003. Previously, she had managed multiple restaurants and currently owns a water purification company; therefore, creating a coffee shop with excellent coffee thanks to quality water seemed like an igneous idea. When pondering a location she decided that sleepy downtown Greer was at the point of initiating a revitalization effort, and felt that all small downtown's need a coffee house and cafe. Located between the cities of Greenville and Spartanburg, the City of Greer has become the center for South Carolina's "Upstate Region." Greer is one of South Carolina's fastest growing cities, boasting a population of more than 20,000 residents (City of Greer, 2005). “More than three times that number of people pass through Greer each day on their way to work, shop or play” (City of Greer). In addition, Greenville, which is 20 minutes away from the coffee house, is the most populated region in South Carolina. According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Greenville is home to more corporate headquarters than any other region in SC. The city is home to Michelin, BMW, General Electric, Robert Bosch, Lockhead Martin, Bowater, Hitachi, and other quality employers. “As the largest of the three cities in Greenville- Spartanburg-Anderson area, the Greenville metro area ranked fifth out of America's 50 hottest cities in the nation for European business expansion and 11th out of America's 50 hottest cities in the nation for site selection” (Expansion Management Magazine, June 2002/January 2002). Greenville has big city amenities and small town charm. Based on the economic growth of Greenville, the renovation of Greer’s downtown area would be a profitable investment. Gerard’s, an upscale restaurant, opened a year prior to Hot Java’s opening, thus marking the beginning of downtown Greer’s restoration. The old Elmore cafe and hotel building was purchased for its location and the first of three phases of renovation began. Hot Java opened its doors Jan. 31, 2004 and has been running 6 days a week ever since. Located directly above Hot Java two apartments are also in the process of renovation. These apartments have been rented by BMW and Michelin for complementary housing of their guests. Since Hot Java opened, all of the rest of the unoccupied buildings on the street have been purchased and have opened, or are in the process of opening, new businesses. Finally, most of the existing businesses of downtown Greer have begun to make renovations as well. The economy of Greer seems to be taking the exact course that the Henkins hoped it would.
Description
Located off of Highway 14 in downtown Greer, SC, Hot Java sits in the middle of a strip of other local businesses, including the notorious Dixie Shoe Shop. From the outside, the entire front is made up of large plate glass windows and the original door from the Elmore Hotel. In front of the windows are two rod iron benches and two tables where customers can sit and enjoy the weather. Hot Java has one large room for the preparation of coffee and the dining of its guests. The kitchen, which is through a door on the back right wall, prepares a variety of foods depending on the time of day. In the morning, breakfast ranges from omelets to French toast. At lunch and dinner, you may have an assortment of sandwiches including, Casey’s personal favorite, a croissant with melted brie cheese, bacon, granny smith apples, and honey. Every type of coffee drink imaginable can be created by their baristas who are happy to oblige. The walls are occupied by the art work of local artists, including paintings, charcoal sketches, pottery, and jewelry which is rotated regularly. In the center of the left hand wall is a large iron sculpture of a steaming coffee mug. Throughout the establishment, tables, chairs, and couches await to be occupied by customers, each with a different fabric, giving it its own personality. The ceiling has large wooden squares that look almost as if they are picture frames, casting the idea of a checkerboard. It has been painted a deep emerald green and the aged with gold crackling paint making it a work of art in itself. Finally, the coffee bar, protruding from the right hand wall, supports the weight of a massive Italian coffee/espresso machine, a cash register, desserts of all kinds, over thirty different kinds of syrups, menus, and many other trinkets that seem to have pleasantly accumulated, making it seem a bit more like home rather than a coffee house.
Description of Clients Wants and Needs
Ruthie Henkin would like a website built for Hot Java that will encourage, not only the citizens of Greer, but also people from all across the Upstate to travel to her shop. Her shop will be making quite a few new additions to its dessert menu in the upcoming Fall season. The website, she hopes, will be able to advertise these changes. Also, she expects it will be an excellent resource so that patrons and newcomers will be able to know when their favorite specials are going to be served. Hot Java needs to communicate through technology with the customers and get them excited about special events, as well as making them feel as though they are a part of this "home away from home" as much as possible. Mrs. Henkin also wants to have a link on the website that connects it to the webpage of Advanced Environmental. The Henkins own Advanced Environmental, which is a company that produces Fresh Squeezed Water. Advanced Environmental also sells water purification systems that produce the water to residences and businesses of the Upstate. Every cup of coffee made a Hot Java is brewed with Fresh Squeezed Water, making it unique to all other coffee shops.
Identification of Constraints
The constraints of creating a website for Hot Java are basically simple. We need to ask ourselves, what will draw people who are sitting at home playing on their computers, to actually look at the site and be prompted to leave the comfort of their own homes. We will only be able to reach a select number of people with the website, seeing that most people choose to “wing it”, and go to the coffee shop on the spur of the moment. Also, the upkeep of a website, making it useful and current is going to be a hassle for Ms. Henkin after it has been made. She, however, has an employee who works with computers on a daily basis who has already volunteered for this task.As far as the actual constraints of creating the site itself, Casey is the only one in our group who know a great deal about coding for websites. We have resolved this problem though by deciding that most of the ideological layout design will be done by Melissa and Lindsey, and then Casey will code it in, balancing the work load. Taking quality pictures in a timely manner to add to the sight is also a constraint due to weather, equipment, and the ability to get together. Melissa and Casey plan to venture to attempt these photos this weekend. Finding the appropriate material content for each page and deciding what order it will be presented as far a links go takes time and effort which we don’t have much of on the particular project. Also, having to reformat the coding every time we want to change to layout of a page causes a great deal of long range communication since we are all located in different parts of the country.
Description of Major Project Goals
Our clients need a website to advertise Hot Java and Advanced Environmental. To separate Hot Java from Starbucks and other coffee shops, we must emphasis the quality water used to make the coffee. The menu of coffee drinks and food will also play a major part in the construction of the web site. It will be important to promote the rapidly growing City of Greer because many families are moving to Greer; therefore, while searching for information about the city on the Internet, Hot Java’s website will pop up. If these families visit Greer, they might be intrigued to stop by and have a cup of coffee. The overall design of the web site must be inviting and cozy, which will be represented by the color scheme and picture layout.
Timeline
Casey interviewed our clients to see what kind of information they wanted to include on the website and how they would like to the final project to look. During the week of July 25, Casey and Melissa are going to take pictures at Hot Java. After we have these pictures, Casey and Melissa are going to sit down and design the web site. Lindsay is going to write the text for each link and edit the web page.
Proposed Site Map
Our group proposed that the cover page have the Hot Java logo and pictures of the coffee shop. In addition, Advanced Environmental will be promoted on the cover page. Then we will have several links including: the history of downtown Greer, the history of the coffee shop, the flavors of coffee served, the food served, and Advanced Environmental. Each page will have pictures and text.
