After a Decade in Business, Little Owl Remains a Leader in Denver's Specialty Coffee Scene

When Seanna Forey Carrêlo opened Little Owl Coffee at 1555 Blake Street, LoDo was very different from what it is today. In 2013, weed was on its way to being legalized and Union Station hadn’t yet reopened — two key changes that brought tourists downtown and through Little Owl’s doors.

“I was really interested in cafe culture and hospitality in general, and when I started learning about specialty coffee, it was pretty sparse in Denver — I was just traveling across town every morning to get coffee. So when I saw an opportunity to put a coffee shop in LoDo, I thought, gosh, I couldn’t be the only one that wants this experience," recalls Forrey Carrêlo.

In the decade since opening, Little Owl itself has changed, too. Michael Sinon and Corey Wall, who started as baristas, joined as partners in 2014. Five years ago, it began roasting its own coffee. The team weathered COVID together, pivoting and then pivoting again. And in the past few years, the business has added two new shops, including its newest at 2731 17th Street, and grown its staff to almost twenty.
Yet for all the growth, Little Owl as a concept has been consistent, with a focus on showing up for its customers and employees, and providing quality coffee and exceptional service in its intentionally small space near the corner of Blake and the 16th Street Mall.

A decade in, Forey Carrêlo still feels excited about specialty coffee. “I was in a job I didn't love and thought, if I can do something that’s this exciting as a job, there really couldn’t be anything better,” she says.

The concept was born from an experience Forey Carrêlo had while traveling in Japan, where she visited a watering hole called Bar Owls that left a lasting impression on her. “It was a teeny tiny bar with about six seats, and the owner/bartender gave the most exceptional hospitality experience I had ever had," she recalls. "His attention to detail was like nothing I’d ever seen before. ... Plus, he had his little pet owl come to work with him every day. It was a very special place."

That memory not only inspired Little Owl's name, but also the type of ambience and service she hoped to provide along with every cup of coffee.

With the tasks of running the business divided among three owners, Forey Carrêlo primarily focuses her efforts on human resources, including training new employees and bookkeeping. Sinon's expertise is in retail, and Wall sources and roasts coffee. But all three are equally invested in decision-making for the cafe, and they have worked together long enough to all be on the same page when it comes to the vision they have for Little Owl.
“To do all the fun things that we want to do, there’s a certain size you where you can have more fun, and that’s what we’re shooting for,” says Wall. Ideally, that looks like two more Little Owl outposts, for a total of five. However, it's easier said than done. “The biggest barrier to growth has been finding the right spot. We want to have it feel really right and not do it for the wrong reasons. We’ve had to be patient," says Forey Carrêlo.

“We really like high-density areas that reach a lot of people, and we like tiny spaces — those are our two metrics: Is it tiny? Are there enough people around it? Is it going to be our people?” adds Sinon.

Little Owl's small size played in its favor during the pandemic, in particular, when indoor dining was banned, and the experience strengthened the team's commitment to each other and the business. "If you can say one thing about this squad in particular, it's that there’s no limit to heads-down work," says Sinon.

At the onset of the pandemic, they threw themselves into survival mode. Wall began making doughnuts, which eventually led to opening a bakery called Owlette, which has since closed. "It was terrible for us in that it created an ungodly amount of work, but it created work and jobs for other folks. That was our mantra: How do we keep people employed and bring people into the fold? We were able to do that because we’re really scrappy and we are tiny."
Since adding the roasting program, the team has been able to explore the complexities of coffee even more. “What is so interesting about coffee and is so exciting about it is that there’s all these new processes, and the more you learn about it, the more you realize you don’t know,” says Forey Carrêlo.

“There were five of us, full stop, when Cory and I started. It was very simple, very punk-rock: Focus in on bar flow and how we serve drinks, and talk about the coffee we’re serving; home in on customer service style; and treat everybody like they’re your best friend from day one,” says Sinon. “It was simpler back then, and now we’re a bit bigger, it’s more responsibility, but with more interesting jobs and positions and cool challenges, and something that can reach more people.”

That includes more staff, too. “We know that not everybody that works with us is going to be in coffee forever, but we hope that they learn something, and that we can offer a career in coffee for somebody who wants it," adds Sinon. "We are growing, and hoping we can continue to grow so we can offer these jobs to people who want it."

One highlight of being in the specialty coffee industry is traveling to see where coffee is grown and by whom. All three have visited farms on multiple occasions, and they hope as they continue to grow that they’ll be able to provide the same opportunity for their employees.

“We buy coffee from all over; we definitely have our favorite origins, both from Africa and South and Central America. There are so many different fermentation processes now, you can make them taste as wild or as chill as you want. The spectrum is all over," says Wall. "We do like to feature really funky coffee sometimes. ... We sell chocolatey, low-acidity coffees that taste good as espresso or drip, and we have coffee on the other side of the spectrum that tastes like wine."
Those special coffees are released in Little Owl's signature limited-edition paint cans. "We try to package those coffees as well as we can. We want people to pick up our products, to look at them, be engaged with them," notes Sinon.

As Little Owl enters its tenth year in business, the partners are gearing up to throw a party this summer to mark the occasion, and to show appreciation for each other, the staff and the customers that have been with them, many since day one. "It's a magic little company, and we’re stoked on it," Sinon concludes.