Coffé Amor opens its newest location at 435 S. Eastown Rd., Lima.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
LIMA — A local coffee connoisseur left corporate America to follow a still small voice that led him to El Salvador on a missions trip. One leap of faith changed the life of Dave Tilton forever. Tilton is the founder of Coffé Amor alongside his wife, Gabrielle.
“Coffé Amor (was) birthed through some life changes in myself,” said Tilton. “I was a corporate America guy and I got to travel the world, see a lot of cool things and different cultures. Through the corporate America stuff, God told me I needed to change.”
Tilton said for almost eight years a missions group called him annually asking if he wanted to join their assignment. Finally, Tilton said yes. He left his job and the trip, which was meant for 90 days, became two and a half years long. While away, he was a mentor who coached soccer and taught Bible studies. The Tilton’s began to roast their own coffee and opened the shop they have today.
The coffee shop now has one location in Lima, two in Wapakoneta and one location in Largo, Florida. Tilton said he hopes to grow not in a linear way, but vertically.
Moving forward, he plans to focus on making an impact in the community.
After leasing space in Sara’s Sweets, Coffé Amor moved to the location previously occupied by Shirley’s Popcorn at 435 S. Eastown Rd. As the company grows, it will provide more pastry options and a place where community members can stay for a while.
“We really want this to be this hangout area in the community,” said Tilton. “When people come we want to get to know their names. We want to say ‘Hey Joe, the regular today?’. When people come in and are having a rough day I want to ask them, ‘hey I can tell you’re off. Do you want to pray about it? If not that’s okay.’ The reality is I want this to be a safe place for people to come. When they walk through that door if they are stressed out or whatever they can drop it. They can come in here and be free.”
The company purchases its coffee from countries around the world. Tilton said the beans are roasted locally so the authentic taste and flavor remain. Coffé Amor gives back to those countries by helping to provide soccer cleats, salaries and donations to local charities.
Tilton said community members are welcome to check out their new location and host their friends or try new drinks.
“Enjoy the atmosphere,” said Tilton. “Meet some people. Have a date.”
Each location is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information visit: https://coffeamor.com/.
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
