It’s Monday morning. While creeping out of bed, you realize you’re 15 minutes late. You scrape up your things and head to class, wiping the crusts out of your eyes while bustling down the hall. You hear a faint song from the 90s and groan while your stomach growls. The smell of fresh coffee and donuts is just minutes away as you approach the counter. Finally, your day starts with Inzombia coffee.
Inzombia opened its doors in downtown Rockford in June of 2022. Its owner, Pete Dufoe, opened a 2nd location at RVC Last October. Over the past year, Inzombia Coffee has been filling the halls of the ERC building with its fresh scents.
Pete Dufoe had nothing but good things to say about his experience over the past year: “RVC, it’s amazing. I’ve been very blessed to be here, and these students are coming nonstop. It’s been amazing. That’s what we’re good at. We want it to be busy, that’s the easy part.”
Pete’s about to get some big-name competition in downtown Rockford, and it inspired local coffee shops to team up. Pete thinks it will be helpful. “I think we’re going to see a lot more different faces because Starbucks is there.”
Saturday, September 28th was the Rockford Coffee Crawl. Customers were given a passport upon request where they would find participating locations in the Rockford area. Inzombia participated along with five other stores.
Pete also calls the Coffee Crawl an excellent opportunity for coffee shops to show their true colors and get their names out there.
“My goal, my idea is so that people can see what we’re doing as a coffee community. There’s going to be a lot of people that have never heard of us still, being two years old. That gives people an opportunity not just to see, the three coffee shops downtown. But also the other ones in Cherry Valley, Cafe Amore, their nostalgic place like Meg’s. Then there are those crazy unique ones, we’re there, Inzombia is that nostalgic 90s place. I’m excited for people to see the other coffee shops in the area.”
Residents agree with Pete. Local resident Aruba gets the message that the Coffee Crawl is about the community behind it. “I feel like the local coffee shops here do a really good job at sourcing quality beans. So their coffee tastes better. I know that my money impacts real people in my community. As humans, we were not biologically meant to live in silos and live alone. We need people to exist and the community gives you that purpose and existence” (Aruba).
Inzombia’s Facebook page has a compelling message to its customers: “Where you can FINALLY have a cup of coffee with your messy-hair-don’t-care self. We are not fancy or flashy, and we are definitely not pretentious. We promise to be humble, respectful, and genuine. This is a coffee shop for anyone and everyone! Welcome” (Inzombia Coffee).
Inzombia Coffee is in the lobby of the ERC building on the RVC campus.
