Snowy Elk Coffee not expanding to new location at this time.

Label scar left behind from Railyard Coffee Haus & Eatery's sign - Optopolis

You may have heard that Snowy Elk Coffee Co. was planning on opening a cafe in the Pershing Plaza off of Concord Avenue, but sadly, this is no longer the case. Here's a look at the history of Snowy Elk Coffee as well as a glance at what happened with the former Railyard Cafe.

Snowy Elk gets its start (early years)

According to an article by Stephanie Lam from Cap City News, Snowy Elk Coffee began their game in 2017. A post from KC Coffee Geek reveals that one of the owners, Scott Gondzar, had worked in the field of beer brewing, but had to switch up his focus due to his intolerance of gluten. Writer, Stephanie Lam, mentioned in the Cap City News article that they had started producing their coffee in their garage!

Snowy Elk Coffee Co's coffee product seen on display in JAX Outdoor Gear, Farm and Ranch - Optopolis

As soon as 2019, they started offering their products in various stores and restaurants. A version of the locations page saved in the web archive in 2020 shows that they already offered their products at several locations between Wyoming and Colorado including Railyard Coffee Haus & Eatery in Cheyenne, Jackson Whole Grocers in Jackson, and The Cupboard in Fort Collins.

This same year (2019), they were even using a "mobile roasting lab," a new thing they were doing that appears they had started in 2018.

In 2020, Snowy Elk announced plans of moving to a physical storefront located along US-30 at the Capital City Business Park--a space which Snowy Elk noted in a previous Facebook post was a former Cross Fit gym. At the new location, they'd not only have a physical storefront for people to visit--they'd also be able to offer classes on making coffee!

An updated list of locations saved to the Web Archive in 2021 that includes retail businesses selling the Snowy Elk brand of product reveals that their reach had expanded significantly. The brand could be found in stores ranging from Oregon to Michigan (east to west) and Montana to Louisiana (north to south). Even in Wyoming alone, the number of locations where one could find Snowy Elk went from 16 businesses in 2019 to 28 businesses in 2021 (including the Cheyenne Natural Grocers).

They had said at one point that they'd have a grand opening for their business sometime after opening at the US-30 storefront; they ended up having their grand opening celebration on May 27th, 2023. Visitors that day could buy one hot coffee and get another free.

Snowy Elk announced (now canceled) plans of expansion

Within a few days of publishing an article here at Optopolis that discussed the closure of Railyard Coffee Haus and Eatery, word was already finding its way around town that Snowy Elk may take over the former Railyard location, but it wasn't yet certain here at Optopolis... that is until around the end of November.

One of two Coming Soon! signs displayed in the windows of the former Railyard space - Optopolis

Snowy Elk posted on their Facebook page that they were set to expand to a new location with more details coming soon. They posted a photo with a paper packet that read at the top, "SHOPPING CENTER LEASE." Visiting the former Railyard location, there were two signs posted in the windows indicating that Snowy Elk Coffee was coming soon, one of which is pictured above.

The Facebook post has since been deleted, and a new post from December 4th, 2023 confirms that they are no longer planning a second cafe location at this time. The signs in the windows of the Railyard space have been taken down.

In spite of recent events, their current location along US-30 has been continuing to operate. Since the time of the Facebook post where their expansion was called off, it doesn't appear any new posts about future expansion have been posted. The future of the old Railyard Cafe space appears uncertain at this time.

If Snowy Elk Coffee does get the chance to expand to a new cafe at some point, where would you like to see them open a location? What do you think will happen to the old Railyard space now that Snowy Elk isn't gonna open at that location? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA

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