About the shops
The first Blue Mug was founded in 2011 and we have now expanded to three locations across Greeley. The original location, in the Westlake Village shopping center, is where our fresh baked goods are made each morning and then are distributed warm to each of our other locations. Our downtown location is situated just across from Kepner hall at UNC, and is a great place for students and faculty to gather to meet a friend or study. Our Roastery is our west Greeley location where we roast our specialty coffee in small batches. Also, our UNC Mug and Roastery locations offer a meeting room which can be reserved at no charge.
About the owners
Natives of Colorado, Art and Karla Long met and married in Boulder, spent their early years of marriage in Greeley, then moved to Southern Colorado. It had always been their passion to provide a warm, friendly environment in their community, so in early 2000 they bought a small coffee shop in Southern Colorado and began learning the art of coffee. Loving the coffee business, but always eager to move back to Northern Colorado, they started looking for the perfect location to start a coffee shop in Greeley. When news came that the Starbucks on 35th Ave. was closing they saw it as the perfect opportunity to start a new venture. They sold their coffee shop in Southern Colorado and on Labor Day of 2011 they opened their doors at the 35th Ave. location and The Blue Mug was born.
About the name
by Art Long
Why the Blue Mug? As a young child I have vivid memories of cool, foggy mornings in beautiful Boulder Colorado waking up to the warm, delicious smell of fresh roasted coffee. I would slowly make my way downstairs to where my mother would be serving up a fresh brewed warm pot of coffee served with a little sugar and a dollop of whipped cream. Of course, my mother’s warm cup of coffee would always be served in my favorite handcrafted blue mug which we purchased on one of our annual trips to Italy.
Oh wait... that’s not true.
The actual story is a little different. Well, it’s basically all true except for a few, mostly irrelevant details. First, there were no stairs to come down because we lived in a one level house. Also, the bit about Italy wasn’t true but it did sound good. I did make myself a cup of coffee (or tea) each morning but unfortunately it wasn’t from a blue mug. And I did eventually make it to Italy but it was almost 30 years later.
The real story.
We were looking for a good name for our coffee shop. We had hundreds of names and ideas given to us from friends and family. Many names were great but nothing really stuck out to us as unique or interesting. Until we thought "The Blue Mug." It just sounded right. The red mug didn’t sound right. The green mug didn’t sound appetizing. The orange mug wasn’t good. But the Blue Mug. Perfect! A friend came up with the logo and The Blue Mug was born.