By Jordyn Aden, Olympia High School Intern to ThurstonTalk
Filling Station Espresso, located on the corner of 4th and Plum, is a known landmark in downtown Olympia. Before the building served coffee and dished out scones, it was a gas station called the Service Station, opened in the early 1900s. Now, alongside the food trucks and Abby’s Cupcakes, the Filling Station is thriving and luring a large and loyal customer base.
Filling Station Espresso is a special place for many people. Over the years it’s grown and so has the area around it. Cyndi Dickson, Filling Station Espresso’s previous owner, built the once nearly vacant lot into a community with color, smiling faces, and good food and drink. There are a variety of different food shops and places to sit and eat. Cyndi Dickson created a very comfortable environment for people to come utilize during their lunch break or on the weekend after a long day of shopping or activities.
Cyndi passed away January 14, 2015 leaving the Filling Station in the hands of her hard-working daughter, Carissa Dickson. Her passing tugged at the hearts of everyone who knew her. Carissa hopes she and her husband, Gaelen Fechner, can keep the Filling Station running in her mom’s memory. “It was always my mom’s little dream to create her own type of food or coffee,” Carissa explains. “We really hope that [the Filling Station] just continues to grow and thrive and we want to try to create a strong memory and presence of my mom.”
Cyndi bought Filling Station Espresso from Gary Couch in 1995 after working there for about a year with her daughter. Carissa remembers coming to the coffee shop after school when she was only 15 to work with her mom. Soon after, it began to bloom. After Carissa went off to college, in Bellingham, and her mom continued to put her heart into the business she now owned. In the beginning, Cyndi brewed Endicott Coffee from Puyallup and now the Filling Station uses locally roasted Hawthorne Coffee (previously Dino’s). But the quality coffee is only one of the reasons the business is still around today.
The caring community surrounding the Filling Station is a big reason why it’s still running. Many commented on how Cyndi and her giving spirit contributed to the business’s ongoing success. “I really feel like my mom was the big reason why people kept coming because she just loved it and she was so easy to talk to. She genuinely cared about what was going on in your life,” Carissa says.
“Everybody loved Cyndi. She was like the Olympia mom,” customer and friend, Shawn Harris, explains.
“[Cyndi] was always very supportive of me and my kids and she always gave good advice. She was like that with employees and customers,” longtime employee Sarah Roney says. Sarah has been working at the Filling Station for around ten years and has witnessed a lot of the progress Cyndi and her business promoted in the area. “I think, at first, we were the first espresso place in town so we got established that way,” Sarah says.
Before Cyndi was involved with the Filling Station, Gary Couch owned the building and used the garage behind it to store used cars that he sold. He began selling a few hot dogs and soon opened up the coffee shop to attract more customers. “When I first started going to the Filling Station there was coffee, but there were also cars out there,” says Shawn. At one point, Shawn recalls a group of guys turning the adjacent garage into a place where they would convert cars into hybrids. “They were turning diesel engines into hybrid cars for a little while, which was really weird. And I don’t think that lasted for very long,” he shares.
The Filling Station welcomes all and Shawn has always found the coffee shop to be an iconic Olympia location. The famous Star Wars wall stands behind the food trucks on the lot. Shawn remembers many people coming to take their picture by the wall. “Olympia always had this funky, artsy feel and the Filling Station totally has that. It’s so representative of Olympia in that way,” he explains. Along with being very “Olympia,” the Filling Station has a close family of employees, past and present. “We always have good girls working there and we’re all friends,” Sarah says.
Cyndi worked hard to create a strong foundation for her business. Carissa worked all day with her mom on the weekends and after school on weekdays when she was younger. “We would work, just the two of us, from open to close,” Carissa remembers.
Cyndi’s great management skills allowed her to create the Filling Station Espresso vibe, always able to give advice or support valued by both employees and customers. “Cyndi, in general, was a very giving person and you never felt judged by her. She was just a really great friend,” Sarah Roney says. Many of the Filling Station customers had known Cyndi personally and when she passed away their loyalty did not fade. They now continue to come to the coffee shop to show their support and keep the customer employees bond strong.
Alongside her husband, Gaelen, Carissa hopes to continue to pursue her mom’s dream and stay connected to the Filling Station Espresso family that Cyndi constructed over the years. With the help of the loyal customer base, the Filling Station Espresso will be standing for many years to come and Cyndi’s memory will live along with it.
Corner of 4th and Plum, Olympia
360-754-8415
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
