You know this scene all too well: you’re running late to work and have to forego that morning coffee at your local joint when you see the line is 10 people deep. Well, your mornings are about to get a lot better (read: more caffeinated) thanks to the new Bushwick-born app, LuvJo.
The recently launched app wants to help make sure you get your morning coffee, without wasting any precious minutes to do so. The app, available now on iOS, lets you order and pay for your morning coffee or breakfast and pick it up at the exact time of your choosing, letting you make your train without having to pull a G-train style sprint.
Worried you’ll get lukewarm coffee if you order in advance? LuvJo lets you specify the exact time you’ll pop in to pick it up so you can be sure that coffee will be hot. You can also change the timing of your order in real-time, up to 10 minutes before it’s set to be made, so if you need an extra 10 minutes to change your entire outfit – LuvJo has your back. The app gets even easier for reorders too, simply hit the “reorder” button and in less than 1 second, you’ll have ordered and paid for your morning fix and can just quickly run in to pick it up.
The app is integrated with LevelUp, a PayPal-like service, to let you easily and securely make payments. After a one-time sign-up process that takes a couple minutes, placing an order on LuvJo takes literally seconds (seriously, it was faster to order through the app then walk up to the counter and order when I tried it out).
Right now, LuvJo is up and running at Kave Espresso Bar and plans on expanding to coffee shops all along the L train this summer.
Founder and CEO, Tony Kidd (a regular at Kave) originally had the idea to open up his own coffee shop but it was while he was doing some field research at a local cafe that he first became inspired to instead create LuvJo. He saw people walk into coffee shops and immediately exit upon seeing long lines of customers.
“We got to know the cafes in our neighborhood and they showed interest in an app like LuvJo,” Tony told Bushwick Daily. “We spoke to Cobra Club and Little Skips about how to make it the most functional for a cafe, and added features such as a ‘reservation system’ which makes sure cafes don’t get flooded with orders.”
So far, baristas seem to really value LuvJo. “It’s a really cool thing and an opportunity to serve our more early morning customers quicker. It’s easy to use and makes a lot of sense,” said Jessi, a barista at Kave Espresso Bar. “I think in six months it will be especially useful and Kave will stay the best coffee shop in Bushwick.”
Coffee-apps have actually been quite popular in Bushwick in recent months. CUPS app, a Classpass-for-coffee like membership service, lets customers drink an unlimited number of cups of coffee per month for $120. Unlike LuvJo, CUPS does not allow for scheduling or pickup.
Keep an eye out for LuvJo as it appears at local coffee shops near you this summer and gives you just one more excuse to hang out in your bed just a little bit longer.
Download LuvJo for iOS here. (Android coming soon.)
