Meet Tyler Smith | Specialty Coffee Cafe & Coffee Roaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process came from career experience. I began working in the Commercial Coffee Industry in 2013 at Wilbur Curtis out of Montebello, Ca. Curtis is a Commercial Coffee Machine manufacturer. While working there I had the unique opportunity to be trained in almost all positions. I was given a home in the Marketing Department but also working with the Specialty Coffee sector for new products and events. I was able to be on some amazing teams that were making big waves with new products we were coming out with. Since I had the opportunity to work on these teams I had the chance of attending conventions and trade shows. I must have made a good impression cause after one event I was offered a job at the Specialty Coffee Association. An international nonprofit organization that specializes in the education of people in the specialty coffee industry. I was given the amazing opportunity as the E-Commerce Marketing Manager. This allowed me to travel pretty extensively to visit wonderful coffee professionals and their businesses. I was able to try coffee or cafes from all over the country. This inspired me to bring some of this amazing type of business to my home town. I wanted people in my town to experience specialty coffee they way I did.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Luckys Coffee is one of the few Specialty Coffee Roasters in the Inland Empire of SoCal. We brought a new vision and offering to our community. From the beginning of 2017 we were a wholesale roasted coffee and kegged cold brew business. In later 2017, I began the process of looking for a brick and mortar location in the downtown of my hometown Upland, Ca. By June of 2019 we were officially open in our first location. Soon after our opening the pandemic hit and we felt the harsh reality of being a small business with a world wide issue occurring. But we soon got a lot of local support from our community and business was looking better than ever. A customer who visited our shop on the daily came with an incredible offer. He had a cafe location available and wanted us to take it over. We loved the space and by the time we had our one year anniversary of Upland we opened our second location in Claremont, Ca in July of 2020. Things were looking good and the excitement was high. But as we all know the pandemic was no where near ending. For most of lifetime of our existence we were roasting our coffee at a friends roastery and was given a great chance to work out of their space. Sadly we were given some bad news their business was going to close. So we were frantic, trying to find a place to call our new home to run our operations. Particularly because of the needs related to or operations (cutting a hole in the roof for the roaster) we couldn’t find a new space and because of the lack of close local roasters we didn’t have anyone else to set up a similar setup as before. Our amazing customer and now landlord offered us the space next door to our Claremont location. We expanded our already existing business and made a new home for our roasting operations. We opened doors January of 2021. Things were looking great again. Word must have traveled and we began getting busy. Contacts from all over SoCal began wanting to work together. The most incredible of all is our newest venture. Brookfield Properties reached out and offered us an amazing space in the Wells Fargo North Tower in Downtown Los Angeles, Ca. It’s been an amazing ride of ups and downs but such incredible experiences.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ooo good question. Well it really depends on what they are down to do. Grand Central Market is within walking distance from our DTLA so we would have to visit. Arts district for great food and drinks. Specifically Arts District Brewing and Death & Co. Check out a bunch of roof top bars and restaurants around the area like the new Conrad space. Visit the beach of course. I’m a bit more of an OC Beach goes so a little bit of travel. Then during the day definitely the museums across the street like the Broad and MOCA.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family has been incredibly supportive. When I first came up with the idea of opening my business I went through a lot of different financial breakdowns and business plans. My parents listened and helped me find a solution to all my problems. They event continue to help and support me through this entire endeavor. My two oldest kids Paisley and Rori are always so excited and supportive when they hear of new things we are doing or offering. They really help keep a positive outlook on what we are doing. Most of all my fiancé Kat has become a true partner in this business. She is my other half in this and truly supports me so that I can still be a good Dad and spend time with my kids.

Website: https://luckys.coffee/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luckyscoffeeroasters/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luckyscoffeeroasters/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/luckyroasters

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/LuckysCoffeeRoasters/

Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/lucky-s-coffee-roasters-los-angeles