He’s a coffee industry veteran who shares a hometown with the world’s largest coffee house chain.
But that’s pretty much all Firecreek Coffee founder Mike Funk has in common with the Seattle-based java powerhouse with a green and white nautical siren as its logo.
Funk has spent a decades-long career assisting small, independent coffee shops in opening and getting their wares produced and sold to customers through his Phoenix consulting company, Cafe Tech.
In Flagstaff in 2008, his craft evolved into coffee shop Firecreek Coffee. It would be followed by three more locations across Arizona: Sedona, Cottonwood and the latest in Phoenix.
But the Arcadia spot is just the start of Funk’s foray into the Valley. He’s restoring an old department store building at 16th Street and McDowell Road that will serve as an event and concert venue, restaurant and bar. It will serve as his second roastery in the city.
“It’s got 20-foot ceilings, a mezzanine … It’s the coolest building…
