Travail Coffee opened its doors in Oxford on Friday, Oct. 30. The locally owned coffee parlor wants to create a space where people can connect over coffee.
For owners Thomas and Shelby Toole, the opening marked a milestone in a long-term goal. The couple dreamed of opening a storefront for many years, admiring Lost & Found Coffee Company in Tupelo, Miss., which they frequented.
“Our friends at Lost & Found … have really created this beautiful community gathering space, and they really inspired us,” Shelby Toole said.
Quality, she said, is the foundation of Travail alongside creating an inviting space for the community on the less frequented, east side of Oxford. Travail makes its coffee syrups in house.
“Primarily, we hope to offer excellent coffee. That is one of the goals of this space,” Toole said. “We want to create a space where you feel cared for … and also a space for our community to gather. It’s been really sweet how people on the east side of Oxford have come and been like ‘this is so close to my house. I didn’t even have to drive all the way into town.’ I’ve seen neighbors meet for the first time in this space.”
Mia Dawson, bar manager at Travail, said the coffee shop’s leadership team hopes to create an environment centered on hospitality and community.
“I think something that is unique about Travail is the amount of thought and intention behind each drink, as well as the community-oriented environment and culture that we as a leadership team are hoping to foster,” Dawson said.
After six months of renovations whilst both working full-time jobs, seeing the idea come to fruition has meant a lot to Shelby and her husband.
“I think sometimes Jesus has big plans, and we are just so comfortable that we don’t let Him tell us,” Toole said. “It’s been inspiring to see how the community has responded (to the opening).”
Before deciding which drinks would make the menu, the team worked diligently to find the right combination of different coffee flavors.
“We taste so many different coffees from all over the world and have experimented with many different flavors and combinations in order to choose what we will actually serve to guests as house classics or seasonal offerings,” Dawson said.
Dawson said she is especially excited about introducing customers to these different flavors and coffee possibilities.
“I, personally, am most excited for people who thought they might never like coffee to fall in love with it,” Dawson said.
Dawson explained that she initially did not think she would ever enjoy coffee herself. That changed when she began learning more about the drink’s different flavors and the craftsmanship behind making it.
“I was previously unaware of how creative you could get with coffee, and I started to view coffee as sort of a form of creative expression,” Dawson said.
She said learning how to taste notes in coffees completely changed her perspective.
“Manager Gates (Allen) introduced me to the fact that different coffees could have different tasting notes, almost like wine or bourbon, which I never knew until he told me,” Dawson said.
Now, she hopes customers who visit Travail will have that same realization.
“I think I am just mainly excited for someone to have the same kind of ‘Aha!’ moment that I had,” Dawson said.
That attention to detail is part of what the team hopes will set Travail apart from other coffee shops in Oxford. However, Dawson said making customers feel welcome is just as important as the drinks themselves.
Shelby Toole has utilized the layout of the coffee shop to promote female artists by showcasing collections of artwork for sale from local talent.
“In college, I had this vision of creating a female-empowering creative space,” Toole said. “It’s been so cool because I wanted the coffee shop to highlight local and regional artists.”
Currently, guests at Travail can view and purchase artwork off the wall from Ole Miss graduate Ashley Benton. Shelby wants to curate a new collection quarterly so visitors can look forward to new scenery frequently.
“My hope is that it’s a collection of different types of artists every quarter,” Toole said. “So people are experiencing different types of art all the time, I hope to get potters and mixed media artists and expose the community to more art in common places.”
The shop’s opening day brought in more customers than the team initially expected.
“Friday was our first day open, and we were very busy,” Dawson said. “All four of us were surprised at how many people came and supported our dream. We were honestly blown away, while also so grateful for people who took the time to come be a part of our opening day.”
Emma Autenreith, who moved to Oxford from Houston in 2015, said she was excited to see the shop open and appreciated the work that went into creating it.
“I absolutely love it here; the people are great,” Autenreith said. “(I really like the) staff and the people that come in, but (I also enjoy) the values that they have behind it. It’s not just a coffee shop.”
Autenreith said the staff put significant time and effort into the renovation, even completing parts of the work themselves.
“They literally put blood, sweat and tears into it because they knew what it was going to bring to this community,” Autenreith said.
As Travail begins its chapter in Oxford, its leadership team hopes the shop gives customers a place to meet new people, reconnect with friends and become part of the community.
