Espresso Business

What Qualifies Alex & Associates to be your Guide? "We have been in the espresso business since 1969. We are the originals. We know from personal experience what works and what doesn't." Alex Fisenko & Associates have been in the espresso business since 1969, when together with Joe Carpiac they started to import and sell "Gaggia" espresso machines... in Los Angeles, California. As very few people in this country knew at that time what espresso was, it was very difficult to sell any machines to restaurants, as they did not have any demand for the product. Realizing that consumer demand for the espresso based drinks would have to be created before the machines could be sold, Alex and his wife Oksana opened their first espresso bar in Berkeley in 1970. Our total investment for that store was under $6000 with most of the remodeling work done by Alex. The menu was very simple: At that time there were a few coffee houses across the country, but they served mainly as "beatnik" hangouts and coffee was incidental to the whole setting. If they served any espresso, it would be unrecognizable by our present standards. So opening a coffee house where people would go just to drink espresso and not to listen to poetry or music was a new concept. As there was no precedent in this country for this kind of a venture, or none that we knew about, we had to invent what American people would drink. One of the things that we realized right away was that espresso, like they drink in Italy, was not it! You see, for Americans, coffee was a beverage with unending refills, while Italians considered coffee as a quick pick-me-up stimulant. There was no way that Americans would accept a small, one ounce cup of strong, black coffee! small, one ounce cup of strong, black coffee! Alex & Assoc. are worth talking about! Some Text will go here to test. After three hard years of educating mainly young people in the finer art of consuming espresso based drinks, mostly cappuccinos and mochas, our efforts finally paid off in 1973 with sales of ...Read More