Yeti’s Grind opens new location at Kind Bikes and Skis in West Vail
You can now get your ski or bike rentals with a cup of Joe
Yeti’s Grind/Courtesy photo
You can now rent, tune and demo skis while also grabbing a cup of Joe in West Vail. Yeti’s Grind set up shop at the end of February in the Kind Bikes and Skis store located in the First Bank building near the North Frontage Road roundabout.
The collaboration of two locally owned and operated businesses has been in the works for a while. Kind Bikes and Skis has hosted group rides from its Riverwalk location in Edwards that end up at the Yeti’s Grind at Solaris on Sunday mornings the past several summers.
“We’ve talked about it for a long time, way back into the group rides back in 2018 and even talked about adding on to the Kind’s Edwards location, but then Chris found this space and reached out to us about the opportunity in West Vail,” said Marci Leith, who owns and operates Yeti’s Grind’s three other locations in Vail Village, Eagle and Edwards with her husband, Larry Leith.
“When I was looking at this space, it just seemed like it would be perfect to combine the bike and ski shop with a coffee shop,” said Chris Anderson, owner and operator at Kind Bikes and Skis, of the former Northside Grab and Go location. “I also thought this space is perfect because West Vail doesn’t have a local coffee shop and it doesn’t have a local bike ski shop. Now we can have both.”
Kind opened the bike shop in August and adds full-service ski shop amenities during the winter months to complement its bike shop, which remains a year-round bike shop. The community has been eagerly awaiting the coffee shop portion. But the Leiths wanted to do things right and build out the space exactly how they wanted to serve the community. Leith says her job title is chief coffee lover, and she enjoys everything about the craft.
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“When you realize how coffee beans are grown and what you can do to roast and bring certain flavors out and how the roaster brings out the best in each bean, it’s exciting to see the variety of flavors that can come out of it,” Leith said. “It’s a lot of fun figuring out how to make the most delicious coffee.”
In addition to coffee, Leith wants to make sure Yeti’s Grind has wholesome and delicious bites you can grab on the go or enjoy at the shop like breakfast classics, burritos and sandwiches on a freshly baked ciabatta roll.
“Our avocado egg salad toast is probably the most popular and some of the finishing salts that we use really just make it pop,” Leith said.
The coffee shop will be open at 7 a.m. to serve those needing caffeine early and the ski and bike shop side will open a bit later, depending on the season. The space is divided by an artistic metal structure that slides back and forth to allow you to flow easily from one side to the other while still allowing one portion of the business to be closed when needed.
“We worked with architect, Kelly Smith from Studio Shop Architects. He worked with us for many years on our other Yeti’s Grind shops and when we owned our Tokyo Joe’s restaurants. He really understood what we were trying to achieve with the space, and Rocky Mountain Construction did such a great job with the build-out, too. We’re so thankful for all the help we’ve had,” Leith said.
Anderson added that coffee shops and biking just go together.
“How often do we associate coffee and biking? If you’re going to stop on a bike ride, where are you most likely to stop?” Anderson said. “It also goes deep in the European tradition of cycling and coffee. So, it’s a real sensible marriage of two different concepts in one place.”
For Anderson and Leith, the bike/ski/coffee shop equation isn’t just about convenience, it’s about community.
“A big part of what we enjoy most about having our shop is that we’re servants of the community,” Anderson said. “We’re always trying to figure out and learn what the community needs from us because that’s why we’re here. Our goal is to serve the community in the best way that we can with what they need at the moment.”
“The ability to be here and have that vibe and goodness that just ripples love out to the community is really fun for us,” Leith said.
