Holy Grounds is the Gibbons student-run coffee and tea shop that lies in the corner of the lobby and the art hallway. Whether you are a frequent buyer or have never dared to try, everyone knows Holy Grounds. I mean, how could you not notice that line of people dying to get a strawberry refresher, caramel macchiato, or the new cake pops?

So, where did it all begin—and how did Holy Grounds grow into the beloved spot it is today?

The Start

Holy Grounds found its “permanent” home in January of 2022 outside the school store. The idea was to create a lesson of running your own business by offering students in his business management class, as well as volunteers, to gain real life experience in supply, demand, and customer service.

Although this idea sounded fool-proof, Holy Grounds ended up losing more revenue than gained in the 2023-2024 school year with a net loss of $38,000.

That’s when Mrs. Deborah Taylor stepped in. With a background of a decade of teaching and over 22 years of experience in the business world, Mrs. Taylor was the saving grace of Holy Grounds.

The Climb

“A couple years ago, I was asked to take a look at Holy Grounds because it wasn’t operating as efficiently as it needed to. I came in and looked at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And I realized that there was a lot of opportunity for growth,” said Taylor.

During the summer of 2024, Taylor thought to herself “What do I see students walking around with in their hands?”. 

The answer: Starbucks.

Lots of refreshers, cake pops, specialty coffees and so much more.

Taylor then went out and found a refresher company that has a product similar to Starbucks’ Strawberry Acai.

It became incredibly popular and sold numbers never seen before. Holy Grounds went from being in the negatives with a net loss of $38,000 in the 23-24 school year, to having a profit of $72,000 in the 24-25 school year. 

While the refreshers quickly became a hit, the real turning point came during an educator appreciation event.

Taylor said, “I’ll just stock some sodas. And we’ll serve that to the educators. Well, everyone kept walking by and said, “Oh, you have Dr. Pepper, oh, you have Sprite!” So I thought, well, let’s try it.” 

Next thing you know, sodas and refreshers became the biggest sellers.

Then a new drink trend came.

“When the TV Show the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives came on, Swig became popular, and dirty sodas took off,” said Mrs. Taylor.

So now in addition to just being a cafe that sells coffee, it became more of a Sodabox or a Swig.

How it’s Going

This year, Holy Grounds is on track to make over $120,000.

“It’s really just listening to what the students want, looking at where they are going, and then trying to adapt to make Holy Grounds fit,” explained Mrs. Taylor.

Holy Grounds even makes more sales than some Starbucks in the Raleigh area with over 5,600 sales monthly.

Taylor has changed Holy Grounds completely into an extension of the classroom that every student is invested in. 

How to Get Involved

Business Leadership is a semester elective that has students work for four hours in Holy Grounds. After taking business class, a student can take the entrepreneurship class where they are sort of teacher assistants for business and learn about the insides of Holy Grounds. 

Now, Taylor is trying to add a fellowship class where students can add a third step to their business resume at Gibbons by gaining an internship before they go off to college.

Anyone can be a part of Holy Grounds by volunteering or taking the business leadership route to learn about how the not-so-coffee shop became so successful.