September 22, 2005

Wanita Murphy is selling The Emporium to Kurt Miyazaki (pictured) and Frank Doden. Though a deal has been in the works for a few months, the parties are close enough to completing the transaction that they can now discuss it publicly.

Table lamps glow softly inside The Emporium this week, and newly painted walls of deep gold add to a feeling of warmth. In the sitting area a secondhand sofa rests on an Oriental rug, sharing space with mismatched tables and chairs. If the room seems comfortable and homey, that’s exactly the intention of the business’s new co-owners, Kurt Miyazaki and Frank Doden.

A good cafe performs a unique role in people’s lives, Miyazaki believes. At its best, it offers both shelter and stimulation, a sweet mixture of private and public spheres. He believes The Emporium serves such a function for many Yellow Springers, and he wants to build on the store’s success and enhance it.

Beginning Sept. 1, Miyazaki became the new manager of The Emporium, and he and Doden will soon finalize the purchase of the business from longtime owner Wanita Murphy. News of the sale has circulated around the village for quite some time, but it wasn’t until last week that Murphy felt comfortable discussing the sale.

It’s not easy to let go, Murphy said. Still, she said, “it’s time.”

Murphy bought The Emporium almost 23 years ago, on Valentine’s Day, 1983. At the time, the store had been in business four years, having been opened by David Scott and Andrew Spencer. A Cincinnati resident and avid cook, Murphy was going through a divorce and looking for a new start. At the urging of friends, she bought the business and moved to Yellow Springs.

Back then, The Emporium offered only six kinds of coffee, “a handful of European wines” and kitchenware, Murphy said. She quickly determined that in a small town only so many kitchen utensils could be sold, and moved toward selling consumables. Following her customers’ requests, she brought in a larger selection of coffee and wine, added specialty beers and also began selling baked goods. Fresh-baked bread was soon joined by made-from-scratch muffins, and later she added homemade soups. Currently, the store offers six fresh soups, sandwiches and a variety of fresh breads, muffins and croissants daily.

Initially, Murphy intended to stay with the business for about 15 years, she said, but more and more years slipped by until she could no longer ignore her grown children’s request to sell the store and visit them more often. So, a year ago, when Miyazaki asked if she would consider selling the store, Murphy said yes. But not for a year, she said, and Miyazaki responded that a year’s delay would suit him as well.

She felt comfortable finally selling her beloved Emporium partly because Miyazaki and Doden are the ones buying it, she said. A former employee, Miyazaki knows the store well and knows her customers, she believes.

“I knew he was committed and would keep it going as it is,” she said.

It’s an understatement to say that Miyazaki loves cafes. He’s spent much of the past 20 years inside them, he said, most recently writing his dissertation on political theory. He prefers writing in a cafe rather than home because he concentrates best with a low hum of human activity around him, he said, and also enjoys its serendipity, the potential for unexpected connections with friends.

In fact, Miyazaki spent so much time in cafes that, at the suggestion of his colleagues, he wrote about cafes in his dissertation, citing a philosopher who describes a cafe as “poetic space,” a coming together of people’s private and public spheres.

Miyazaki was teaching political theory when he took a counter job at The Emporium in 1997. His teaching demands — he worked at Antioch College, then Wittenberg University — increased so that he had to leave the store, but what impressed him, he said, was how much he simply enjoyed being there.

He and his wife, Ruth Hoff, dreamed for 20 years of owning their own cafe, Miyazaki said, but he pursued his academic work instead. But when he found his tenure-track job too stressful, he quit teaching a year ago to care for their son, Zenya. Then when buying The Emporium became a possibility, they decided to go for it, partnering with Doden and his wife, Lori Askeland.

Now, Miyazaki plans to bring Zenya along to work sometimes, just as Murphy brought her son Scott, who grew up in the store.

Miyazaki and Doden hope to keep what’s working at The Emporium even as they seek new directions. A year-old Friday night wine-tasting has proven so popular that they might offer other after-hours activities, such as once-a-month Saturday night poetry readings or comedy events, Miyazaki said. They might also expand The Emporium’s Sunday morning menu so that the store becomes a brunch destination.

Mostly, Miyazaki said, they plan to listen to their customers. “We’re trying to figure out what the town needs,” he said.

For starters, he has placed around the room secondhand table lamps to soften the lighting, added a garage-sale sofa plus tables and chairs, and in general sought to make his customers as comfortable as he can. He and Doden, who will take care of the building’s structural needs, were thrilled last Thursday night when about 20 Emporium fans showed up to paint the walls, once off-white and purple, a warmer shade of gold.

The store’s employees will largely stay the same, with Vick Mickunas overseeing the beer department, Bambu Allgaier serving as assistant manager, Ron Booten, Robert Partida and Joe Bachman working the counter, Kathy Monaghan helping with bills and Tim Hackathorne baking. The store recently hired a new French-trained sous chef, Jody Farrar, who hopes to expand the selection of organic food.

Miyazaki said he has a lot to learn about his new business, and Murphy is currently giving him a crash course on wine. While he is undeniably busy, he can hardly contain his enthusiasm at finally owning the cafe of his dreams and offering a poetic space to the village.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com