Team Updates

Menu update and change to Matcha orders

I'm planning on releasing an update to the menu with new prices in the near future.  In the meantime, I'm going to make one change this week which I will update on the menu manually as well as in Square and post some signs at the store.  

16 oz Matchas only

Effective once I announce it, we will only serve one size of matcha drinks - 16 oz.  The goal is to help reduce the impact of making matcha drinks by only having to make one size.  I don't anticipate this receiving too much pushback from our customers but if they do ask why, you can let them know it will allow us to have a more efficient and more standardized matcha drink.  

Cops

As many of you know, a police officer stopped by asking for me.  I am in contact with the officer.  At the moment, there is nothing that needs to be shared with the team.  However, it is very important that if a police officer or any other law official shows up to NoRa or asks for me in the near future, please call me ASAP.  Do not send a message in Slack as I am not always in a spot where I'm checking messages.  I will almost always pick up a call especially if I recognize the number or you call from the store phone.

Events this week details

Monday - Stough Elementary Art Exhibition Kickoff

Parents and kids and some staff from Stough Elementary will be stopping by NoRa between 5:30 and 6:30 pm to check out the kids' art on the walls.  No special activities are planned but The Library is reserved for the Stough attendees in case they want a place to hang out.  Evening staff should make sure The Library is empty of guests if possible by 5:15 pm.

Tuesday - Forever & Company - Event not happening

Due to a miscommunication, I had that Tuesday we were hosting the Forever & Company networking event again.  This isn't until April.  There are half a dozen of these events scheduled on 7Shifts events between now and the end of the year - all with the same structure.

Sunday - Bingo for a Cause

As part of my effort to raise funds for the Campbell and Dodson Family Endowment referenced below, I'm going to host a "Bingo for a Cause" event on Sunday March 29th.  There will be two sessions. 

• The first session will be from 4 to 5:30 pm and will be promoted as "Family Bingo" to allow younger ones to participate. 
• The second session will be from 6 pm to 7:30 pm and is open to all.  

To raise money, all money collected for the bingo event will be donated to the endowment.  There will be two types of bingo cards but I will write up separate information about that to share with those working that night.

Personnel updates

Departures

A couple recent departures to announce.  Both Tabby and Aneesa have moved on to new opportunities.  Tabby has found a job with more hours and Aneesa has a wonderful opportunity to shadow teaching.

Hiring

We are currently reviewing applications for several open positions at NoRa.  We will starting interviewing this week.  That said, I always prefer to hire people recommended by those we know.  If you have anyone that you believe would be a good fit at NoRa, send me their resume and contact information.  If we hire them and they maintain a satisfactory level of performance after three months, you will receive a $100 thank-you.

Campbell and Dodson Family Fund Endowment

Background

As most of you know, Colleen and I lost some very close friends almost two years ago when their car was hit by a guy who ran a red light in Garner.  In honor of their memory, some of their friends who worked with Tyler and Susan at NC State set up an endowment at NC State University which gives out an award each year to a student at NC State who most represents their qualities.  

 Saturday March 28th, their endowment will be highlighted as part of NC State's Day of Giving.  NoRa will be making a donation to the endowment and will be holding a couple of events during the week in order to raise extra money for the donation.  The two events will be a raffle and a Bingo night.  

RAFFLE 

Prize is $400 gift card able to be used at both NoRa and Dog-Eared Books

The raffle will be held this week with virtual raffle tickets being available for purchase either online or at the counter through the end of the day Sunday.  Tickets are $10 each or you can buy three for $25.  The prize is a $400 gift card that can be used both at NoRa and Dog-Eared Books.  The winner will be drawn on Monday March 30th.  

People will be encouraged to purchase their raffle tickets online through either the website or a QR code that I'll have around the store.  People can purchase raffle tickets at the counter when placing an order.  The button will be on the Misc/Retail tab and will allow you to either purchase one ticket for $10, three tickets for $25 or you can accept a donation for any amount.  There aren't physical raffle tickets.  We will use the transaction to determine how many tickets each person gets.  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU GET THE PERSON'S NAME AND PHONE NUMBER and place it in the notes field of the transaction so we can contact them if they won.  

 If anyone asks, all money raised from the raffle will be donated to the Campbell and Dodson Family Endowment fund.  There will be links for those who want to visit the site to find out more information or donate directly.  If you're interested, here is the link to their endowment page.

Bingo for a Cause

As mentioned above, I will be hosting two sessions of Bingo on Sunday for the purpose of raising money for our friends' endowment.  The sessions are at 4 pm for Family Bingo and 6 pm for General Bingo.

Wake Living - Maggy Award

NoRa was voted Best Coffee Shop for 2026 by Wake Living's readers.  

On Wednesday and Thursday, the magazine is planning on visiting some of the winners to gather content for a social media campaign around this.  If I find out that they will be visiting us, I'll let the team know so they can be prepared.

Also, there is an awards ceremony on April 2nd at 6 pm in Cary.  I was planning on going with Colleen but we have to head out of town that day.  Does anybody want to go to the awards ceremony in our place?  If you do, we will ask you to get our plaque while you're there.

March Madness

Playoffs Update

The Playoffs round ends at the end of the day Friday.  The top four teams will advance to The Semi-Finals in head-to-head play.  I am posting daily updates on the chalk board near the front door of the scores.

Best of luck to all.

2026 THEMES

While we received tremendously positive feedback in 2025, in 2026, we will be focusing on several areas to ensure that everyone at NoRa - whether staff or customers - enjoys an even higher quality, positive and enjoyable experience.  

Theme 1: Quality standardization and consistency

Customers really enjoy their experience at NoRa.  However, we received multiple comments during 2025 that experiences could vary signficantly based on day or time they would visit NoRa.  In 2026 we will be making changes to ensure customers always experience the same quality and environment at NoRa at every visit.  NoRa will be launching a variety of initiatives to help standardize and document the "NoRa-way" for everything we do.  While there are many ways to do anything done at NoRa, we will define and document a single way to do it and then make sure everyone is trained to do it that way.  This will help tremendously as we onboard new people and provide ongoing feedback for the existing team.  

Theme 2: (Near-) Real-Time Feedback

Many of you have expressed gratitude for the feedback provided during our end-of-year meetings as well as the feedback from your peers.  It was expressed fairly frequently that the feedback would have been more effective if it had been given sooner - preferably at the time the behavior was demonstrated.  In 2026, our focus will be on providing feedback in as close to real-time to an event as possible.  Whether a positive pat-on-the-back for being on top of expo or helping a team member identify the most important thing to focus on during a lull, we will be asking everybody to help raise the quality and efficiency of the team with constructive feedback at the right moment.  

Theme 3: Respect

Not a new concept.  However, there have been some instances in 2025 that make this a focus for NoRa in 2026 in a variety of ways.

Regarding our customers:  We have had a number of customers behave in ways that go against NoRa's principles.  Sometimes it's how they interact with other customers and sometimes it's how they act or talk to our team.  While these incidents are still extremely rare, any instance a customer acts in a way that insults, harasses or makes a member of our community feel threatened is unacceptable.  I will be sending a message to our community about NoRa's principles and how certain behaviors will not be tolerated.  If you see or experience any interaction by a customer that you believe is disrespectful, please note as many details about the event as possible and share with me as soon as possible.  If you or the shift lead feel comfortable addressing the issue yourself, please do what you believe is appropriate.  You do have the right to ask any customer to leave NoRa if you believe they are a threat or are causing an issue with any customer or staff member.  If you do, please contact me as soon as possible about the event so that I can follow-up.

Regarding the team:  I am proud of the family atmosphere of the team.  Many of you have worked together for a while and have developed close friendships outside of NoRa.  However, to maintain this positive environment, please remember that NoRa is first and foremost a professional workplace.  As such, please make sure that you practice the following while at NoRa:

• Respectful Communication: Always speak to and about your colleagues and customers with respect. Avoid negative talk; in our close environment, words travel quickly.
• Professionalism: Maintain professional standards in your dress, speech, and interactions, regardless of how close you are with your teammates.
• Personal Space: Be mindful of our tight physical workspace. Please use verbal communication to move around others rather than physical contact.

Regarding the business:  Last year, we had an issue with team members being ready to start their shifts at the the scheduled start time.  Over 1,400 shifts started late with close to 300 starting more than 10 minutes past the scheduled time.  While unexpected issues may impact getting to work on time, chronic lateness has significantly impacted team morale and workload. To address this, we are increasing oversight on punctuality in 2026. Please respect your teammates and ensure you are ready to work at the start of your scheduled shift. Unresolved tardiness will lead to formal disciplinary action.

Community House

It has been my intent to create an activity-focused space at NoRa during the evening hours.  The goal is to continue to provide a space open into the evening that offers more options than a traditional coffee shop.  From a business perspective, a coffee shop does not drive enough business to be profitable in the late afternoon and evening.  However, NoRa has proven that when events and activities are offered, business can be quite profitable if we position ourselves differently.  For instance, in addition to having activities, if we offer a larger and more time-appropriate menu, there is even more market interest.

In 2026 I will be rolling out the concept of the NoRa Community House in phases.  The phases will allow us to introduce the idea to our current community while generating interest from a larger market.  We will also be able to test different ideas to see which drive the most interest and business.

At first, we will be keeping the same hours.  However, the goal is to expand our hours as we introduce events and activities that would benefit from us staying open past 8 pm.

From previous events and activities, our customers demonstrate a preference for recurring events on a semi-structured schedule.  For instance, our customers became familiar with the concept of a recurring Silent Book Club or The Umbrella Bar.  For the initial phase, I plan on introducing a number of standing activities or theme nights building off some of the current events and momentum.  This will allow current customers to continue with existing activities while also introducing some new ones to test.  Below is the tentative schedule.

Mondays -- Meet-Up Mondays

We will provide a sign-up to allow groups to reserve some or all of the Library for the meet-up groups.  Groups must sign-up in order to reserve space and will need to adhere to NoRa's rules and policies.  There won't be a charge for the space.  The goal will be to provide a space for groups looking to host meet-ups while also exposing NoRa to new customers.

Tuesdays - Mahjong

We already have a standing group of women who like play Mahjong in The Library on Tuesdays.  I've also received multiple requests from other people interested in hosting Mahjong games or classes at NoRa.  My plan is to open up The Library on a first come, first served basis for people wanting to use the tables to play Mahjong.  If there is more interest than space, we will set up a reservation system for people who want to reserve tables.    I plan to announce this starting this Tuesday with the existing group and post on the website and on social media for others to play with their own groups.

Thursdays - Literary Nights

The first and third Thursdays of the month will remain Silent Book Club nights.  On the alternate Thursdays, I will be introducing the NoRa Writers Club.  The approach will mirror the Silent Book Club except that we will encourage those who need a dedicated time and a quiet space to come and write for an hour or so.  While the original intent is to provide a quiet space for writers, if there is a desire to turn it into a collaborative workshop environment, we will explore offering those on a recurring basis.

Fridays - Family Nights

Fridays will focus on providing a space for families to go out and find something fun to do as a group.  Events and activities will constantly rotate through a variety of options.  These will include a variety of game nights (such as UNO, Scrabble, checkers), movie nights (inside or outside depending on weather conditions), reading nights (with books provided), puzzle nights, bingo nights and trivia nights as examples.

Open Nights/Quiet Nights

The other nights will currently be left open to allow for easier access for renting the space or to allow extra seating in the evening for the main cafe if desired.  

Library Rentals

The Library will still be available to rent in the evenings although it will require at least two weeks advance notice in order not to cause conflicts and confusion with other planned activities.  If the Library is rented out for a night where there is usually an activity, the activity will be cancelled and the online schedule will be updated.

Community House Schedule

We will be posting both on the NoRa website and in the shop a schedule for the Community House so people will have advance notice of upcoming events.