SFU’s beloved Renaissance Coffee celebrated its 20th anniversary on February 23. Owner Parminder Parhar is well-known on campus by students and faculty for his unbeatable community spirit and impressive ability to remember the names of hundreds of regular customers.
Since opening day of the AQ Renaissance Coffee, Parhar has come a long way. His business now extends across Burnaby campus in owning and operating two Renaissance Coffee shops, two Subway restaurants, a Jugo Juice, and the Simon C’s Convenience Store.
SFU President Andrew Petter was present at the anniversary ceremony to award Parhar with a plaque recognizing his growing success and 20-year relationship with SFU. They offered free cake and coffee to customers that dropped by to congratulate them.
The inspiration to start Renaissance Coffee first came when Parhar he visited the Burnaby campus 20 years ago and noticed that there was no one serving affordable, good coffee.
Parhar saw a void and demand for coffee, and decided to seize the opportunity. He remembers the opening day on Feb 23, 1996 as a hectic one. However, with a profit of $328, he was proven right that SFU’s thirst for coffee was very real.
For Parhar, the best part of working at SFU is the personal interaction he has with the students and faculty. He explained that a major source of motivation for him is seeing the young people of SFU put so much work and effort into not only their own future but the future of their field of study in the real world.
“Everything I’ve learned about life, I’ve learned it here,” he explained. “When I face struggle or challenges in my life coming to work and seeing all these motivated people at SFU drives me to keep living: if he can do it, I can do it too.” He and his wife have established an endowment fund that they hope to grow to $1 million in their lifetime. “Everything I have, everything I am, is because of these students on campus [. . .] so this is my way of giving back.” The two are making a conscious effort to take care of their health so that they can be there to celebrate this milestone.
“I see students struggling every single day. They have the motivation to achieve things for the community at large but from interacting with these students regularly, I know how great and how real of a financial challenge it can be,” he expressed.
Parhar ended the interview with a plea for SFU to support local businesses like his so that he can achieve his dream of making a difference in the community. He explained that he can’t compete with the brand power of large coffee chains without the help of the SFU community and the individual student’s choices.
“When all of these graduates go into the world, I hope that they draw inspiration from my efforts and give back to the community as well. If I, as a small coffee guy can make a difference, then you can too.”
