On a weekday afternoon, a local coffee shop is bustling. Two friends order a drink, sit on the couch, and talk without looking at their phones. A customer stands at the counter having a friendly conversation with the owners. Others grab a book to read, or a puzzle from one of the shelves and set about completing it.
What seems like a scene straight out of a 1990s sitcom – a fantasy of connectivity amid the dwindling of third places in many cities – is an actual reality at Schāf Shop in Midtown.
Part coffee shop, part skate shop, owners and wives Lindzey and Taylor Schaffer opened their dream coffee shop earlier this year, prompted by a life-threatening cancer diagnosis six years ago.
Creating their dream shop
In 2018, Lindzey went to the doctor after being sick and experiencing pain in her chest. Fearing breast cancer, she asked for a mammogram. Due to her age – she was only in her late 20s – she was denied. The doctor chalked her pain up to anxiety.
During a snowboarding trip in 2020, Lindzey’s body finally gave out. Then she received the diagnosis: stage IV breast cancer – and it had spread to almost every bone in her body. Now paralyzed from the waist down, the doctors told Lindzey she had six months to live.
“I was told to say my goodbyes,” Lindzey told Georgia Voice. “I said, ‘Well, we’re not going to do that. I’m going to beat this.’”
She was ready to fight.
Spurred on by the diagnosis, the Schaffers said they wanted a chance to live out their dreams. One of those dreams was tying together Lindzey’s passion for skateboarding with Taylor’s dream of owning a coffee shop. To help fund the shop, Lindzey founded an apparel company with her sister. Taylor focused on Lindzey’s health and healing, including walking her up and down a hill every, single day.
The couple married in 2024. Then they launched the Schāf Shop pop-up at My Sister’s Room on Crescent Avenue, while continuing to search for a permanent home for their business.
The Schaffers found that space on Juniper Street in Midtown, opening Schāf Shop this year on their anniversary: Valentine’s Day.
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The Schaffers believe Schāf Shop is more than just a coffee shop. It’s a place where people can find their home away from home and connect with others.
“They feel comfortable here, they can be themselves,” Lindzey said. “There’s new people here every day, and we’re learning everything about them as we grow with them. We’re growing with the customers, and they’re not really customers. They’re our friends.”
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Six years after her breast cancer diagnosis, Lindzey is still fighting. But the Schaffers don’t plan to slow down on pursuing their dreams, or moving forward with their future projects at Schāf Shop.
Look for the launch of a new non-alcoholic cocktail menu soon, along with extended weekend hours and free community events. The Schaffers will also begin partnering with the new nonprofit Healing the Neighborhood to provide food, showers, haircuts, and clothing to unhoused Atlantans.
But they’re not stopping, setting their sights beyond Atlanta. By February 2028, the couple hope to expand Schāf Shop to New York.
“When something so serious changes your life, you realize the time you have here is very short,” Lindzey said. “Don’t waste time not being you, because you don’t know how much time you have.”
Schāf Shop, 905 Juniper St., Midtown. Open daily. Follow on Instagram for updates.
