Connell has had a small local coffee shop for the last 3 years, when Ryan Hatch decided to open up Flying X Coffee on the north end of town. Ryan has a passion for specialty coffee and wanted to share that with others in the community. Seeing that there wasn’t a coffee shop in town at the time, he found the building formerly known as “Odoms” and did the upgrades to set it up as a coffee shop. Flying X is the Hatch family cattle brand and Ryan expanded that “brand” to be the name of his coffee business.
In 2015, when the shop opened, Ryan was also farming in Ephrata as well as getting Flying X Coffee up and running. After a flash flood hit the farm and Hatch was unable to get to the farm before he could stop the damage, since he was in Connell at the coffee shop, he decided to pursue his business with coffee full time and his brother would take over the farm. Little changes and improvements went into the shop as all the profits were put back into the shop to expand and grow. Wanting to grow the business and the coffee brand, Ryan started looking for new opportunities in the Tri-City area.
In 2017, Ryan got his first chance to expand when he bought a drive-thru coffee stand at the intersection of Rd 68 and Argent in Pasco. This was just the beginning of expanding the Flying X Coffee brand as then in the spring of 2018 Ryan leased a space in West Richland at 4001 Kennedy Ave and made another sit-in Flying X Coffee shop. This new location includes a drive-thru as well.
Ryan has opened 3 shops in 4 years and although he would love to grow and expand more, he is waiting for the time being until he can absorb the growth. Ryan is proud to serve world class coffee. They use one of the top-rated roasters in the US and brew it on one of the best espresso machines ever made.
All 3 shops employ a total of 10 people, with the Connell shop employing 3. In Connell, you will find Jessica, Mindee, or Annette smiling and happy to serve you a hot or cold coffee drink, as well as smoothies, frappes, Italian soda’s, Red Bull drinks and pastries. The Connell Flying X Coffee shop is located at 257 N. Columbia Ave; open Monday through Friday 7am-5pm and Saturdays 8am – 12pm with abbreviated hours in the summer months. Follow Flying X Coffee on Facebook to see special events happening or what’s new at any of their locations.
Ryan and his wife, Carrie, who works for NFSD, enjoy living in the Connell and being in this community. The couple is growing their family in addition to business as they are expecting twins this fall. Ryan and Carrie are also devoted WSU Cougar fans.
