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It’s wonderful when the right tools and timing hit. After a long stretch of navigating tough fits and heavier roles, Coffee Shopping Network (CSN) was a breath of fresh air.
This was the first time I had the tools, platform, and support to run an e-commerce operation the way I knew it could be done. And it showed. From redesigning the store to taking over paid ads, CSN gave me the freedom to deliver real results—and rebuild confidence.
Fit and Timing #1 Coffee Shopping Network (2019–2022)
I found the opportunity for CSN on LinkedIn—but it wasn’t a cold start. I already knew the owner of Merus Refreshments from my days at summer camp and later through the local Chamber of Commerce during my SpinningSilk years. That connection helped build trust quickly.
Coffee Shopping Network — Portfolio Recreation
This project is a rebuilt, non-functional recreation of The Coffee Shopping Network, a real office-coffee e-commerce store I previously built on Shopify selling coffee, tea, and break room supplies to businesses. I used it as a case study to demonstrate front-end development and content-migration skills outside of a live store environment.
What I did
- Extracted product data (titles, descriptions, pricing, photography) and brand assets (logo, color palette) from an archived Shopify store export.
- Curated a representative sample of the catalog — 8 categories, up to 5 products each — instead of porting all 369 SKUs, to keep the demo focused.
- Rebuilt the storefront as a lightweight, dependency-free static site: plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, no framework or backend.
- Rebuilt the visual identity from the original theme’s actual color settings and logo, rather than starting from a generic template.
- Optimized and recompressed all product photography for the web (roughly a 75% size reduction with no visible quality loss).
- Replaced every “Buy” / “Add to Cart” action with a Contact Me flow, since this is a portfolio piece and not a live store.
Every page is clearly marked as a demo, and nothing on it can be purchased — it’s meant to show how I approach migrating and rebuilding real e-commerce content into a clean, static front end.
CSN was a division of Merus but marketed beyond the local area so it wouldn’t compete with Merus route drivers. It gave us more freedom to experiment.
My role:
• Maintain and optimize the Shopify-based e-commerce store
• Redesign the site using a new theme and improve layout and flow
• Take over PPC marketing from an external agency—and outperform them
• Manage product listings, descriptions, and bundle creation
• Coordinate both vendor-provided content and my own product photography
One of my favorite wins: I sold 75 Keurig brewers to a new hotel opening up. That one order alone reflected the trust we had built with customers and the polish the site offered.
I also created my own marketing budget, even though one wasn’t officially assigned to me. That helped tighten up margins and make paid traffic more strategic and profitable.
Fit and Timing #2 JavaSmart (during Waterlogic period)
After Merus was acquired by Waterlogic, I also assisted with their JavaSmart e-commerce site—another online channel with a similar product base and fulfillment model.
It was a smooth handoff in terms of tech and brand voice, and gave me more experience managing consistency across multiple branded storefronts.
What I’d Do Differently Today
• Launch subscriptions sooner for core items like K-cups and supplies
• Build custom landing pages for specific customer types (hotels, offices, etc.)
• Use segmented email campaigns tied to Shopify behaviors
• Add seasonal bundles and quick reordering options
• Use Shopify’s native analytics and heatmaps more proactively
The Takeaway
This was one of the most aligned roles I’ve had in e-commerce:
• I had creative control
• I had trust from leadership
• I had a platform (Shopify) that let me focus on growth, not just maintenance
It reminded me that the right tools and the right timing can make all the difference—and that when you’re trusted, your best work rises to the surface.
Coming up next: Day 7 – The Comeback Project (Carroll Media, HyperLynx Studio & Culligan Quench)