WATERVILLE — A downtown cafe that just celebrated its first anniversary has another reason to celebrate.
Selah Tea Cafe was presented with the 2012 Downtown Business of the Year award Thursday by the city of Waterville and Waterville Main Street, a non-profit group that seeks to improve the vitality of downtown.
The cafe’s owners, Bobby and Rachel McGee, opened their doors on May 4, 2011. They said the popularity of their business has been overwhelming.
“We’re humbly surprised all the time. We have to pinch ourselves,” Rachel McGee, 31, said.
Selah Tea Cafe has seven part-time employees. They serve breakfast, lunch, baked goods, coffee and, of course, tea.
Although the business might seem like an overnight success, Bobby McGee, 30, said the cafe is the result of years of brainstorming and planning. The couple had several ideas for a downtown business, including a tea shop, and brought their ideas to Waterville Main Street.
Shannon Haines, executive director of Waterville Main Street, said she remembers collaborating with McGee.
“He had a couple of concepts the first time he approached me, and I felt — based of feedback we’d received from the community — that the tea cafe model would be a really good fit for downtown,” she said.
Haines said Waterville Main Street conducts periodic surveys to determine what types of businesses residents want to see downtown. Some of the business ideas from the most recent survey, which was conducted two years ago, include a grocery store, a tea house and a bookstore that sells new books to adult readers. Haines said the arrival of Selah Tea and Save-A-Lot has helped shorten the list.
Haines also said Selah is among a handful of shops that appeal to area college students.
“We’ve really seen the number of college students visiting downtown increasing over the past five years or so,” she said. “Selah Tea is definitely one of the hotspots, but we also see them regularly at Mainely Brews, Cancun, Jorgensen’s (Cafe) and Barrels (Community Market).”
Haines said coaxing college students downtown is a priority for Waterville Main Street.
“Absolutely. We’ve been working for years to improve the relationship between the colleges and the downtown,” she said.
Lindsay Jarrett, a Colby College sophomore from Weston, Mass., said Selah is popular with students because it feels both new and familiar. She said many Colby students come from metropolitan areas where coffee and tea cafes are abundant.
“Coming here is like a reminder of home,” she said. “It makes you feel like you aren’t in the middle of Maine.”
Abby Cooper, a Colby sophomore from Bethesda, Md., said she visits Selah at least twice a month.
“It’s just a really good study atmosphere,” she said. “It doesn’t feel crowded even though there’s always a lot of people here. It doesn’t feel cramped.”
Rachel McGee said the cafe provides free Wi-Fi and plenty of electrical outlets to accommodate college students and their laptops, but the atmosphere is meant for all people, young and old.
“Our goal is to be a place for any type of person that needs a place to call home away from home,” she said.
The Downtown Business of the Year award was presented Thursday during the eighth annual Downtown Celebration held at Jin Yuan Chinese Restaurant. Selah Tea was chosen from seven nominees.
Haines said a selection committee made its decision from four criteria:
* contribution to the economic vitality of downtown,
* support for Waterville Main Street’s efforts,
* demonstration of a long-term commitment to downtown, and
* excellent customer service.
The McGee’s received a framed print of a watercolor painting that depicts City Hall and a key to the city.
Ben McCanna — 861-9239
bmccanna@centralmaine.com
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