Sandy Spitzer first moved to the Mountain in 1996 and has worked in various industries, including at a snowboard camp and in a number of restaurants.

Last month, Spitzer opened her own business, Fernie’s Coffee, 73265 E. Hwy. 26 in Rhododendron.
“I can say I’ve always wanted to be my own boss,” Spitzer said. “I didn’t know
what it was going to be.”

Fernie’s offers various coffee drinks along with breakfast, including biscuits
and gravy, bagels, steel cut oats and Greek yogurt parfaits, along with lunch,
including sandwiches and soup.

Spitzer noted that her experience in serving drinks gave her a head start on
her new trade.

“It’s kind of like bartending, but with coffee,” she said. “It's definitely an art,
like bartending.”

Fernie’s offers Stumptown coffee and Spitzer noted that the process of getting
up to speed on preparing drinks has been made easy by the coffee company.
“I’m definitely learning a lot; Stumptown has been awesome, they have a
really great educational program,” she said, noting that a representative has
visited the mountain coffee shop a couple times to help get things started.

Spitzer also noted the shop will have consistent hours along with friendly
service and will be dog-friendly (after all, Fernie’s is named after her family’s
miniature Australian shepherd). Photos of customers with their pets already
adorn walls at the shop, and Spitzer hopes to someday offer homemade dog
treats.

“People love their dogs up here,” she said.

For now, she’s not planning on adding anything new for the immediate future,
although she added she’s planning on growing at some point, “one way or
another.” She’s focused on getting everything dialed in for the winter season,
while appreciating all the support she’s received to get to this point.
“The community’s been really helpful,” Spitzer said.

Fernie’s Coffee is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday
(closed on Wednesday). For more information, find Fernie’s on Facebook or
call 503-564-9061.