Spokane chain buys homegrown Tri-Cities coffee shop

A growing Spokane coffee chain has taken over a popular hometown Kennewick coffee shop.

Bobby Enslow, the owner of Indaba Coffee, bought The Local from founders Michael and Jenna Tormanen, who moved to Nashville, Tenn., late last year.

“Everyone is pumped. (Employees) are able to do more of what they wanted to do because the capital is now there,” Enslow told the Herald in a phone interview. “I’m super excited because I love helping small businesses.”

The Spokane native and Washington State University graduate started Indaba in 2009 after spending time living in South Africa and observing entire communities in poverty that were dismissed by society — something he wanted to amend at home.

“I was actually not a barista,” Enslow said. “I was into community restoration and development, and wanted to do something in my hometown.”

He wanted to put his finance degree and master’s in business to use in his own community.

Enslow said his pastor suggested opening a coffee shop in west central Spokane — one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington at the time.

“It was a a rough go for a long time,” Enslow said. “Someone has to take that first step.”

Revitalizing areas, helping neighborhoods grow and putting people first kept him motivated.

Indaba started roasting its own coffee in 2014, then opened a second location in 2015 and three more in 2018.

The Local, on Gage Boulevard across from Costco, is the first shop he owns outside of Spokane.

“This is the first time ever doing anything like this,” he said about taking over an established business. “But everyone is being accommodating and being really nice.”

The Local will be getting a makeover with fresh paint, a new espresso machine and will be renamed Indaba Coffee by August.

However, he has kept the same employees and managers.

“One of my biggest priorities was to continue hours and employment,” he told the Herald.

Enslow will expand the existing menu by adding the signature Indaba touches such as housemade butterscotch, nitro cold brew, lemon lavender and lemon vanilla lattes — which can be ordered by the half-gallon.

His mission of putting people first is what he attributes to business success so far.

Indaba donates the cost of a meal to Second Harvest with every bag of coffee beans sold. They also give 10 percent of all sales on the first Friday of every month to a rotating nonprofit. And they recently installed a coffee machine at every Second Harvest location, including in Tri-Cities.