After 15 years in finance, Dan Romeo began pondering what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He had numerous aspirations, all of which involved him working with his hands and none of which were possible in a stuffy office. So, he resigned from his CFO position in October 2017 and set out to build a multi-faceted business centering around his passion for hiking in the great outdoors. He had a five-year plan and plenty of gumption, but from the moment he arrived at the trailhead, realizing his dreams has proven a tough slog over bumpy terrain.
Romeo’s concept was simple: build a retail space dealing in active-lifestyle goods with a built-in coffee bar that could eventually offer other beverages and keep customers coming back with greater frequency than they would, say, an REI lacking such a relaxed, communal enclave. He signed a lease on a space in North Park but it took him a year to get the keys due to construction delays. Nearly bankrupt by then, Romeo got out of that lease and took over a unit in a Grantville industrial park off Mission Gorge Road which formerly housed local roaster, The WestBean. After spending most of 2019 making the space his own, installing his TRVLR Coffee Roaster and opening it to the public in October, COVID-19 hit, laying waste to his all-wholesale model. By June, he had lost 90% of his revenue, making it clear he needed to shift his business model, and do it quickly. Fortunately, he had a wealth of ideas going beyond coffee and spilling into brewing.
“Beer was on my three-to-five-year business plan. It was always a dream, but everything I wanted to do long-term was kicked into the short-term last summer because I knew I was going to go out of business if I continued to rely only on wholesale accounts,” says Romeo, who has made both beer and wine on a recreational level. “I always thought the coffee in the morning and beer in the evening concept was the way to go. I wanted my warehouse to be active after 1 p.m. and I knew-slash-hope that local craft beer will generate excitement, buzz and sales.”
While installing his on-site, one-barrel nanobrewery, Romeo has seen the success that can come from diversifying one’s offerings. Over the last six months, he has started offering kombucha on top of coffee and espresso drinks, and begun dealing in Onewheels, Magneto Longboards and State Bicycles. He says he has been blown away by the response thus far. Offering the latter “essential” item allowed him to keep what he calls his Roastarito (with the tagline “beans, booch and brew house”) open during the pandemic.
Romeo’s beer operation, which is on-pace to debut in 30-to-60 days, will go by the name One Season Brewing. He intends to keep that brand separate from TRVLR except on occasions where coffee from one is infused into beer from the other, which doesn’t figure to happen all that often. While he will someday work on a coffee stout and other java-laced creations, his intention is to lead with lagers and lighter ales.
“Think of a beer you want on a hot day at the beach; something refreshing and crisp. Most everyone is doing hoppy IPAs, but I definitely won’t be doing that. At least not initially,” says Romeo. Having only homebrewed, he will work with Sergio Howland, who previously ran his own brewery for three years in Mexico City. And Howland will assist the business beyond the fermentation sciences. “He will be putting together a food-truck type of kitchen outside the Roastarito now that outside dining is back on. I have a lot of outdoor seating and eventually want to have music.”
TRVLR’s coffee will be available at the Roastarito in the mornings. In the afternoon, the venue will flip over to offer house beers. One Season will be the third beermaking entity to call its industrial park home, joining brew-your-own operation Citizen Brewers and Kensington Brewing‘s manufacturing facility. Romeo says the name of his new enterprise refers to San Diego’s reliably sunny weather and how perfectly suited it is for the types of beers he and Howland will produce. As for the name of his coffee interest?
“The name TRVLR was chosen because it symbolizes my journey of leaving corporate America and starting this new life venture, but it’s more than my journey; it’s all of our journeys. It’s about living your life’s potential, and that is what I am doing now. This is more than coffee…this is an experience,” says Romeo. “I have nearly killed myself over the past six months turning the Roastarito into a unique spot that people will want to come out of their way for again and again. Time will tell if they do.”
One Season Brewing will be located at the site of TRVLR Coffee Roasters at 5839 Mission Gorge Road, Unit D, in Grantville