Business & Tech
VIDEO: Business Percolating at PerKup, Urbandale's Newest Coffee Shop
The PerKup Cafe opened in what some called downtown Urbandale's jinxed location. The new owners say they aren't worried; their business brews only good karma.
Delores Clouse and her daughter, Jennifer Deo, looked at many locations for the coffee shop they wanted to open.
The scouting started in their hometown of Altoona and expanded across the metro area before the pair settled on 7003 Douglas Ave. in Urbandale. Soon after, their began serving the city.
Weekends are busiest, and the pair draw on the help of Clouse's husband, Greg Clouse, and sons Drake and Jackson Clouse, plus her aunt, Kaye Jones.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The new owners remodeled the cafe, painted it with warm and vibrant colors, added wireless internet access and opened the doors in late June.
It wasn't until a delivery man told Delores Clouse that he thought the place had "bad karma" that she learned several restaurants had failed in the location.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
"It's not going to have bad karma anymore," Clouse said. "We're doing something different. We've changed the whole look and feel; we don't want to go in with any of that negativity."
Urbandale resident Stuart Nelson gives PerKup a top-of-the-cup review.
"It's just a real nice place to hang out and meet nice people and eat good food and drink good coffee," he says. "The coffee is actually really good; I'd recommend it."
Business has picked up steadily each week since opening, Clouse said.
"More people are finding us, generally when they find us they're very complimentary, and then we have some new regulars," she said.