A Long Island transplant who has called East Tennessee home for two decades has taken over Just Love Coffee Cafe’s two Alcoa locations — and she’s wasting no time putting her stamp on both.
Lydia Donahue, who spent her career as a director of operations in the restaurant industry, acquired the Franck Street cafe and the Hunters Crossing Walmart location roughly a month ago, fulfilling a dream she says she first mapped out in a college paper.
“I’ve always wanted to own a coffee shop,” she said. “It was always something that was part of what I’ve wanted to do all my life.”
The Just Love brand’s mission sealed the deal. Founded in 2009 to help families offset adoption costs, the Murfreesboro-based franchise markets itself as a catalyst for community — a philosophy that resonated with the new owner before she ever signed a franchise agreement.
“It’s all about coffee for a reason,” she said. “Coffee is just a means in which we get to meet people and get to show them love.”
Since taking over, she has redecorated the Franck Street cafe with rugs, couches, a children’s chalkboard wall and a lounge area near the cafe’s signature logo wall, aiming to create a neighborhood feel. Sound baffles are on the way to tame the cafe’s acoustics, and one of the bar counters along the windows is being repurposed as a merchandise and cause-coffee display — where bags of coffee sold benefit local nonprofits.
The two locations aren’t identical by design. The Franck Street cafe launched a new all-day menu last week featuring cold brew on nitro, pour-overs, French press, teas and locally popular breakfast tacos. The Walmart location is being tailored to a different customer, with a streamlined menu that leans into frozen drinks and grab-and-go items suited to shoppers on the move.
A community grand reopening is planned for July at the Franck Street location, with partnerships in the works with MEDIC Regional Blood Center, Smoky Mountain Service Dogs and Catholic Charities of East Tennessee.
“I just really love being out here in Alcoa,” she said. “Getting to meet the people out here — whether they’re here for a weekend or whether this is their home — it’s been really neat.”
For more information > justlovecoffee.com/tn-alcoa
