St. Thomas has a brand new coffee shop in an old location. Stacks Café, which opened Aug. 22, replaced Coffee Bené on the first floor of O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library.

The differences between Coffee Bené and Stacks include the variety of foods, longer hours and the ability for students to use flex dollars.

“There was an internal struggle with Coffee Bené. St.Thomas wanted to take this in-house and have it run through St. Thomas,” shift lead Katelyn Zelenka said.

There are similarities between new and old, including a similar drink menu and comparable prices.

“I feel like they modeled Stacks a lot like Coffee Bené,” Stacks shift lead Autumn Heiderscheit said. “There was a lot of pushback when we first opened, so now we have the same vanilla caramel coffee called ‘Jamaican Me Crazy’ that Coffee Bené previously offered that was quite popular.”

Along with coffee drinks, Stacks offers a variety of fresh baked goods, salads, sandwiches and snacks.

Junior Brooke Buehler used to order from Coffee Bené quite often, but said she enjoys ordering from Stacks multiple times throughout the week now.

“If I get a regular coffee, I get it at least three times a week here,” she said. “I also really like how they have the snack boxes here, not just muffins.”

Stacks, Beaker’s Coffee Shop in Owens Science Hall and Brady Coffee Cart in Brady Educational Center are all managed by Caroline Coryell, who was unavailable for comment.

The three coffee shops have about 50 student workers combined. The switch from Coffee Bené to Stacks Café will make managing the shop easier. Heiderscheit and Zelenka have worked at the coffee shops on campus since their first year.

The two think that caramel macchiatos are a very popular drink for students right now. The café has also received good reviews from students on their caramel cinnamon rolls and maple cinnamon rolls.

“We do have pumpkin spice syrup, so there is a possibility of a Pumpkin Spice Latte coming up,” Heiderscheit said.

The new name has left some patrons confused about the meaning.

“Stacks is a reference to library bookshelves. That was the inspiration for the name,” Heiderscheit said. “ It’s kind of going for the same theme as Beaker’s in Owens Science Hall.”

Heiderscheit said the library location is great for convenience.

“I think business will be the same as it was for Coffee Bené, but it is definitely a perk that students can use their flex dollars here now,” Heiderscheit said.

The café is open from 7:30 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, while Coffee Bené was open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

As of now, Stacks isn’t open on the weekends, but at some point they are hoping to pick up some Sunday hours when students are in the library studying.

“Our goal is to provide really great coffee and service, while also maintaining really good employee happiness,” Zelenka said.

Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.