From the moment she opened her first cafe in Hilo three and a half years ago, business owner Savanica Johansen of Coffee Girl had the goal of opening on Oʻahu one day.
“The vision (for my shops) was always just bigger — opening across the Islands, maybe even opening on the Mainland,” she says. “It was always just a big vision. This was always a matter of when (not if) — when we would open in Honolulu.”
Long before Coffee Girl came about, Johansen was a sales manager for Hilton. Part of her job including traveling; the first thing she would do in a different city was to look for cute coffee shops.
“I’ve always been a coffee girl,” Johansen says. “When I would travel (for work), I would just go to a different coffee shop every day. That was what I loved to do.”
At that time, Johansen recalls that coffee shops/cafes were not plentiful in Hilo.
“If I wanted to get coffee before work, the Starbucks line was so long,” she remembers. “It was so hard to get coffee; if I went on my lunch break, everyone was also there at the same time.”
During a trip to Australia, Johansen felt “really inspired” to start her own coffee business one day.
“There are beautiful coffee shops on every corner (there),” she says. “I kept saying, ‘I want to have a coffee shop.’”
Around 2018, Johansen left the hotel industry to pursue real estate, which she says “was her first dream.” She said her goal for the longest time was to be a luxury real estate agent. When the Covid-19 pandemic happened and life slowed down, Johansen remembers coffee was still a highlight in her life — specifically, in the form of white mochas from Starbucks.
“White mocha was my thing,” she laughs. “I asked my husband, ‘Can you please buy me one of those fancy, expensive coffee machines? It’ll save money.’”
For six months after getting a coffee machine, Johansen says she “dumped everything down the drain” and still went to get her fix at Starbucks because her coffee “was terrible.”
“I’m very, very picky with my coffee, so none of them tasted good (to me)," she says. "Finally, one day, I made something really good.
“My sister, who is a nurse at the hospital in Hilo, came over and tried it,” she adds. “She said, ‘Can you bring me a coffee for my night shift?’ I started bringing her coffee at work, and her coworkers wanted coffee, too, so I started delivering.”
Johansen credits her drink recipes to a lot of trial and error. The coffee deliveries were the catalyst to officially starting her business.
“It was still around 2021; they (my sister’s coworkers) said, ‘This is really good, but you should be charging us,’” Johansen says. “I was just making it for free; I started charging $3 for the drinks.
“I wanted something to do; I’m a very social person,” she adds, noting the struggles with social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I just wanted connection. I feel like it’s so fulfilling to give somebody a cup of coffee and for them to be so happy. This (coffee) brought me more fulfillment than real estate ever did.”
At first, Johansen didn’t know what to call her business, but “coffee girl” was a suggestion from her daughter.
“I didn’t like it at first because it was just (geared) to one market,” Johansen says. “But most of my drinks are to this market — the girls who want the fancy coffees, who want the aesthetic.
“At that time, I was working for a lawyer part-time and doing coffee deliveries,” she says. “My lawyer was like, ‘This is a genius idea; a lot of people can resonate with being a coffee girl.’”
With her business name and social media account set, word started to spread about Coffee Girl, and Johansen realized having a physical location for her business was the next step.
“My business got registered; I wanted to do this right — in line with the health department guidelines — and get a shop,” Johansen says. She ended up funding her first store, located at 2100 Kanoelehua Ave., with the money from her biggest real estate sale.
“I put every single penny into my shop and opened my first location in March 2023,” she says. “It did really well; I was so happy with the response that I got.
“It was my first shop, but I wanted more; I just felt like it was made for me,” she adds. “I ended up getting the opportunity for my second shop, which is in downtown Hilo (42 Waianuenue Ave.).”
While opening in Honolulu was always on her heart, everything came together quickly this year. Johansen says she was on Oʻahu for vacation in June and didn’t want to leave.
“I went home and was like, ‘I want to be in Honolulu,’” she says. “I flew back the next week, looked at spaces, and put in an offer (for this one). By the time I got the keys, it was August. We started construction at the end of August; we finished in about four weeks.
“I believe in myself so much that sometimes, I’m like, ‘Wow, girl … you need to check yourself,’” she laughs. “But honestly, sometimes I don’t want to think about it (too much) because who opens a coffee shop in 60 days?”
Coffee Girl’s Honolulu location officially opened on Sept. 26. While all of her stores are slightly different, Johansen says there are common elements in each one.
“All of my shops have roses; I love roses, they are my favorite flower,” she says. “They’re (the stores) all different colors — my first shop is pink, my second shop is a lighter shade of green, like a sage green, and this one is white and gold. They’re the same vibe, but different; I want them all to be destination coffee shops. I want people to experience all the Coffee Girls.”
She says that while her Big Island stores are inspired by French cafes, her Honolulu store features a more modern look. She says her cafes usually feature mirrors and heart-shaped straws for the drinks.
The menus across all three stores a mostly the same, according to Johansen. The café’s signature beverage is its pink macchiato, a layered drink with white chocolate, vanilla, strawberry milk and espresso shots. Other popular options include the banana bread latte and chocolate haupia pie latte.
“I like to have options,” Johansen says, referring to the menu selection. “A lot of my drinks are inspired by my favorite desserts. I’m a big dessert person; I love sweets. I made the chocolate haupia pie years ago because I love Ted’s Bakery’s chocolate haupia pie.”
She notes that many of the drinks are designed as iced lattes, but hot drinks are available as well. Besides coffee, the menu includes frappes (blended drinks), lemonade, matchas, teas and kid-friendly options like hot cocoa and chocolate milkshakes.
“Our strawberry matcha is made a little differently here,” Johansen notes. “There are different products that I can get here (in Honolulu) that aren’t as easily accessible in Hilo.”
For her Honolulu store, Johansen collabs with local bakers to feature a rotating selection of treats. Coco’s Cravings 808 (cinnamon rolls), Aloha Loaf (brown butter chocolate chip banana bread cookies) and Lyman Lattes (mini croissants) are a few of the featured vendors so far.
“I was not about to put an oven and a whole bakery in here,” Johansen says. “I was like, ‘Let me get some local bakers who want to collab and I can sell their stuff here;' it’s a win. I love what everybody does, and the hard work they put in.”
Coffee Girl Honolulu does offer a café menu, comprising dishes like grilled cheese ($10.95), chicken pesto panini ($16.95) and build-your-own avocado toast (starting at $14.95).
“I never used to do food when I started,” Johansen says. “We started with the build-your-own avocado toast, which is popular on the Big Island.
“People want a one-stop shop — they want to come in and get their coffee, get their breakfast or lunch, and maybe get a sweet treat,” she adds.
Johansen says the Oʻahu store came together quickly partially because she “gets things done quick,” but also because materials were more accessible.
“When I do things, I fully commit,” she says. “All of my orders came in faster (here) than they did in Hilo. Sometimes, that’s the biggest thing; just waiting on stuff to come in. When I finally opened last Saturday, it was surreal.
“I couldn’t do any of this without God, every space, every opportunity was because of Him. He’s opened every door at the right time,” she says. “It’s definitely a lot of hard work and sacrifice, too; my kids back home sacrifice a lot. But let this inspire people who have kids; they can definitely accomplish their dreams.”
Coffee Girl Honolulu’s grand opening is this Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8 a.m. The first 100 customers will get a free goodie bag; after grand opening, the biz will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“This location is just special because I always wanted to be on Oʻahu,” Johansen says. “I love the city. Every time it’s Merrie Monarch (in Hilo), I get a lot of Oʻahu customers. They’re like, ‘When are you going to open on Oʻahu?’
“It’s finally here; it’s been talked about for years now, and it’s really been on my heart,” she adds. “I really felt like this is where I wanted to be. I made this for you guys; I made this for the Oʻahu girlies.”
CONTACT
Coffee Girl Honolulu
Azure Ala Moana
629 Keʻeaumoku St., Honolulu
Instagram: @coffeegirlhnl
Customer parking available at Azure Ala Moana (retail stalls available)
Open daily, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (open from 6 a.m. after Oct. 3)
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
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