HOT DATE Espresso Dates joins couples over cups of joe.
Jill Owens opens Des Moines dating service
When her 26-year marriage ended, Jill Owens found herself back in the dating world. It wasn’t going well. In the eight years after her divorce, she had had one eight-month relationship and a handful of dates. She was smart, successful and attractive, and wondered why she was having a hard time. Then she realized she wasn’t the only one. Friends, neighbors and her daughter, Lindsay, were all talking about the difficulty of meeting new people.
“Des Moines doesn’t really have that many options,” Lindsay Owens said. “Bars are where people flock to.” She said bars are not the most desirable places to start relationships, however.
One day, Jill Owens was watching television and saw a talk show segment on Drip, a New York City coffee house which featured a dating service. Patrons could look at a book full of single people, pick out a potential date, and the establishment’s proprietors would set up a meeting. She became intrigued and noticed dating services were becoming more and more accepted, whether online, in newspapers, or rapid-dating events.
When Owens discovered that her friend Barbara Hurd had met her husband, retired Principal Financial Group CEO G. David Hurd through a personal add in the Des Moines Register, she was astounded.
“No one has more contacts than David Hurd,” she said. Owens decided if someone with Hurd’s wide social opportunities desired outside assistance, many other people must feel the same.
“I’d been a widower for some time and I’d done some dating with a number of women but there wasn’t anybody in the immediate prospect pool,” Hurd said. “I wanted to widen the number of candidates.” Hurd speculates that one reason executives turn to dating services is time.
“If you’re leading a very busy life, it’s difficult to devote a large amount of time to going to new places just to meet new people,” he said. “There’s also a certainty in [dating services]. Whoever responds is looking for a date, so all you have to worry about is whether you have enough in common.”
Owens had a full-time job as a realtor, but it didn’t fill her time. She decided to fill her spare time by creating her own business, Espresso Dates, to bring the Drip concept to Des Moines.
Owens, her daughter and their friends go to bars, coffee houses and even grocery stores passing out business cards promoting the company. Owens is gathering profiles and photographs of Greater Des Moines singles into books that will be placed in coffee houses such as Cup O Kryptonite on Des Moines’ south side, Grounds For Celebration’s four locations, Java Joe’s Coffeehouse downtown, Just Cup in West Des Moines and Mercato in Valley Junction. She will also place featured profiles on her web site, espressodates.com.
Owens meets each new client in person. In addition to a photograph and the profile, she requires a copy of each customer’s driver’s license to confirm his or her identity. She also has a rule pertaining to the photos: “If it doesn’t look like you, it’s not going in,” she said.
The company’s tagline is “It’s just coffee.” Owens says sitting through an entire meal with someone can be torturous if you realize in the first few minutes that your have no rapport. Just having coffee allows people to meet casually and, if need be, flee quickly. Although she originally envisioned Espresso Dates as a service for people older than 40, talking to her daughter made her realize younger people in Des Moines would be interested, as well. Now her main focus is on professionals, regardless of age.
“I think professionals can better relate to the idea that [using a dating service] is acceptable,” Owens said. “They’re willing to put their money out and let it ride to get results.”
Joining Espresso Dates costs $30 per month. Ten people are members thus far, and 15 to 20 more have contacted Owens and are waiting for their personal interviews. She will not distribute the books until she has 50 to 75 clients, and is waiving the first-month fee for her business’ founding members. She hopes to reach her membership goal by July 1.
“A lot of people are so caught up in their careers, their kids and other commitments,” Owens said. “This just makes meeting people easier and gives people another option.”