---
title: From 'For Lease' to Coffee Shop — in Four Months
description: Find out what worked and didn't work when starting a new side business in a short, four-month time frame.
image: http://connect.regencycenters.com/hubfs/snowwhitecoffee.jpeg
---

- [Home](https://www.regencycenters.com/)
- [Properties](https://connect.regencycenters.com/properties)
- [In Development](https://connect.regencycenters.com/in-development)
- [Regency](https://connect.regencycenters.com/regency)
- [Contact](https://connect.regencycenters.com/contact)
- [Investors](http://investors.regencycenters.com)
- [Tenants](https://connect.regencycenters.com/tenants)
- [Blog](https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog)

- [Corporate Responsibility](https://www.regencycenters.com/corporate-responsibility)
- [Leadership](https://www.regencycenters.com/leadership)
- [Investors](http://investors.regencycenters.com)
- [Tenants](https://www.regencycenters.com/tenants)
- [Careers](https://www.regencycenters.com/regency/careers)

[![Regency Centers](https://www.regencycenters.com/ResourcePackages/Regency/assets/dist/images/regency-centers.svg)](https://www.regencycenters.com/) [![Search](https://www.regencycenters.com/ResourcePackages/Regency/assets/dist/images/icon-search.svg) Properties](https://www.regencycenters.com/properties)

![Menu](https://www.regencycenters.com/ResourcePackages/Regency/assets/dist/images/icon-menu.svg) Menu

- [Properties](https://www.regencycenters.com/properties)
- [In Development](https://www.regencycenters.com/in-development)
- [Regency](https://www.regencycenters.com/regency)
- [Contact](https://www.regencycenters.com/contact)

Search

- [Inside Regency](https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/topic/inside-regency)
- [News Releases](https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/topic/news-releases)
- [Retailer News](https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/topic/retailer-news)

# From 'For Lease' to Coffee Shop — in Four Months

[Regency Centers](https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/author/regency-centers)

July 27, 2017

- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

In four exceptionally short months, one Oakland, CA couple went from imagining a side business to throwing themselves into the mix — and [Snow White Coffee](http://www.snowwhitecoffee.com/) was born. Their trials and tribulations can be best summed up into five lessons they learned by digging in and rolling up their sleeves.

![Snow White-branded coffee cups on a shelf](http://connect.regencycenters.com/hs-fs/hubfs/snowwhitecoffee.jpeg?width=640&name=snowwhitecoffee.jpeg "snowwhitecoffee.jpeg")*Photo Courtesy IDEO*

> "Neither my husband nor I have any experience running a coffee business. Had we known how hard it would be, we would have surely taken one look at the space and balked. Instead, we tore down walls, stood in line at the city building department, had our eyes opened wide, cried out in frustration, and in the process, learned a hell of a lot," said Kim Powers, co-owner, Snow White Coffee.

 Full story from IDEO [here](https://www.ideo.com/blog/thinking-about-starting-a-side-business-read-this).

 

 

##### Connect With Us

[Join Our Mailing List](https://www.regencycenters.com/connect-with-us/)  >

[Explore Our Markets](https://www.regencycenters.com/properties/our-markets)  >

[Find a Space For Your Place](https://www.regencycenters.com/properties)  >

##### Related Stories

Subscribe

[![Regency Centers](https://www.regencycenters.com/ResourcePackages/Regency/assets/dist/images/regency-centers.svg)](https://connect.regencycenters.com/)

- [Careers](https://www.regencycenters.com/regency/careers)
- [Investors](http://investors.regencycenters.com/)
- [News](http://investors.regencycenters.com/news-releases)
- [Fresh Look](https://www.regencycenters.com/regency/fresh-look)
- [Tenants](https://www.regencycenters.com/tenants)
- [Contact](https://www.regencycenters.com/contact)

[Find a Property](https://www.regencycenters.com/properties) [Leasing Agent](https://www.regencycenters.com/contact) ![Reg Listed NYSE](https://connect.regencycenters.com/hubfs/blog2018/images/stock-ticker.svg)

[Regency Centers Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RegencyCenters) [Regency Centers Twitter](https://twitter.com/RegencyCenters) [Regency Centers Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/regencycenters/) [Regency Centers LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/regency-centers/)

MEMBER  
**S&P 500**

Regency Centers is a preeminent national owner, operator, and developer of shopping centers located in suburban trade areas with compelling demographics.

©2026 Regency Centers [Terms of Service](https://www.regencycenters.com/terms-of-service) [Privacy Policy](https://www.regencycenters.com/privacy-policy)

 Cookie Settings

![Quantcast](https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-XHwFJLhjBpfmt.gif)

![](https://connect.regencycenters.com/hubfs/Archive/snowwhitecoffee.jpeg)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Regency Centers",
    "url" : "https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/author/regency-centers"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-01-21T15:26:34.468Z",
  "datePublished" : "2017-07-27T12:38:07.000Z",
  "headline" : "From 'For Lease' to Coffee Shop — in Four Months",
  "image" : [ "//connect.regencycenters.com/hubfs/snowwhitecoffee.jpeg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://connect.regencycenters.com/blog/lessons-from-opening-a-side-business",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4081/img/vast.png"
    },
    "name" : "Regency Centers"
  }
}
```