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Computers and cappucino
Nov 07, 2009 (Culpeper Star-Exponent - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
If you need a satisfying caffeine fix, a snack, a place to surf the Web or someplace outside of your house to catch up on a little work, Lisa Montgomery hopes you'll check out Digital Caffeine.
Along with husband Butch, the couple in September opened the downtown Internet cafe in hopes of filling a niche in Culpeper.
"It's kind of combination," Lisa said on the customers the shop has attracted. "It's the technology, but a lot of people want to come to a place where they can come every day or every other day and someone knows them and remembers them -- it's not like they're just another person."
Located at 105 E. Davis St., Digital Caffeine is open every day except Monday. Customers can pop in for a quick cup of coffee and take advantage of the Wi-Fi. Those without computers can sit down at one the shop's computers, which are connected to the Web and loaded with the latest versions of popular word processing and other business programs.
Nearby, a large flat-screen TV is available to play a game of Nintendo Wii or as a gathering place for a small group presentation. At the back of the cafe, a group of specially designed gaming computers is available.
The 1,800-square-foot shop is available for rentals, and Lisa said they hope to start selling soups and sandwiches this spring, filling another niche by offering lunchtime meals that fall between $5 fast food and $30 sit-down dining.
"We have all different types of people," Lisa said, "different walks of life, different ages. I thought for sure we would get a lot of gamers in, because we have gaming computers in the back, but we're getting more people that just want to use the Wi-Fi and professional people and things like that than gamers, which is interesting."
Lisa and her husband are from Fairfax and moved to the area to open the shop. They're maintaining ties to both communities, and they've rented a house here. "My nephew actually came up with the idea to open the cafe," she said, "so we looked into and did some research and whatnot and thought it would be a good idea."
But the couple believes that access to and familiarity with technology is something that should be available to everyone, according to the cafe's Web site. That's why they're also planning computer classes geared to everyone, from novice to net guru. The classes will cover everything from open source software to what to look for when buying a new computer.
"It's hard to set up curriculum and things like that when people don't plan," she said. "Hopefully, we'll get people into planning so that they'll know what they're doing and it'll help better orient their day and they'll get a lot more done."
To see more of the Culpeper Star-Exponent or to subscribe to the newspaper, go
to http://www.starexponent.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Culpeper Star-Exponent, Va.
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