Tucked in the lower level of Collegiate Presbyterian Church, Labyrinth Coffee is more than a café. With its nonprofit model, welcoming atmosphere and focus on sustainability, the shop is quickly carving out a place in the Ames community.
The café operates as a social enterprise, with proceeds first covering expenses before being donated to charitable causes such as the Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA) Story County food bank and Ames Pride. Staff members are paid a fair wage without tips, and any customer “tips” are redirected to local organizations each month.
Trinity Reichart, manager of Labyrinth Coffee, said sustainability is central to the shop’s mission.
“Our mission is more social enterprise, sustainability type thing,” Reichart said. “We focus a lot on reducing, reusing, and recycling. We do our own recycling, and we do composting as well. And most of our things are homemade.”
For Reichart, the people make the café stand out as much as its mission. “It’s such a positive, welcoming, warm environment,” she said. “I want [customers] to have a positive experience where they feel welcomed and like they have a safe, calm space to do whatever they need to, whether it’s studying or just sitting for a little while or talking with friends.” Part of that environment, Reichart said, is shaped by the staff itself.
“I personally am a member of the community, our staff is — we’re LGBTQ women-run,” she said. “And it’s just creating a safe space, especially in a religious area where people who grew up didn’t have that representation or a safe place to practice their own beliefs in religion, where they were welcomed.”
Students are also noticing the atmosphere.
“I would say [it’s] open, homey, and welcoming,” Alondra Sotomayor, a sophomore in biosystems engineering, said. “It’s a good area, a good space just to wind down close to the university. You don’t have to take a bus, you can just walk.”
Sotomayor said she found Labyrinth by searching for local cafés online.
Now, it has become a go-to.
“I ordered an iced caramel latte, and it was really good,” she said. “I would have it again for sure. … If you go to Starbucks, they’ll charge you like $10 for the same coffee, and over here you get it for $5.50 and it’s pretty good coffee. I mean, it’s ethically sourced, and you’re supporting your local Presbyterian community.”
Reichart said that kind of community support makes Labyrinth different from other shops.
“We are the only nonprofit social enterprise-type café [here in Ames], which gives us that immediate, like, this is the difference,” Reichart said. “But other than that, I think it’s like — we do all of our homemade [products], we do sustainability, we work very hard to make this place feel like a home.”
Labyrinth Coffee is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Updates and seasonal specials are shared on Instagram at @LabyrinthCoffeeAmes.
