Remaining Upbeat
Sisson believes that the ever changing Reno is, “[b]eneficial. I get a lot of foot traffic, like a lot of tourism that comes through because a lot of people say things like, ‘oh , like let's go to Midtown’.”
Sisson feels a powerful sense of support from the Reno community. JoStella replaced a well-known coffee shop called Dreamers.
Instead, of there being any resentment for Sisson, she says the transition from Dreamers to JoStella, named after her grandfather Joseph Stella, was easy. “. . . ., people came in and they're like, oh what happened to “Dreamers? In the beginning, actually the owner of Dreamers helped. He was still here so then like people would come in and Jonathan would like to introduce me as the owner. So it was a really good transition.”
Construction in Midtown has made parking and walking difficult, but Sisson is taking the long view that current struggles to make a wider road and sidewalks will be beneficial in the long run.
Little Improvements
The reviews of Jostella have been overwhelmingly good. Nonetheless, there is still hardship to owning a small business in an evolving environment like Reno.
Sisson says she feels pressure to rebrand and stay relevant due to the other well known coffee shops in the area.
“I try to do little things at a time,” she said. “Like I can't do huge remodels all at once, but like I did the countertops, which was like my biggest one. And then I just kind of add new things to make it look nicer as quickly as I can...I just try to be as unique as possible in my own way.”
Above, a minidoc our sister channel Reynolds Sandbox made following the coffee shop’s opening.
High Hopes
Sisson has high hopes for Reno and hopes that it continues to support local culture and businesses. Sisson’s fear, like for many other small business owners, is that there will be a corporate chain store (“like a Starbucks”) on every corner, rather than the unique and, refreshingly quirky charm that only local businesses bring.