Seven years ago, a cyclist and coffee lover looked around Tucson, Arizona and saw something missing: the city had the weather, the trails, the people— but not the kind of coffee culture to curate morning rituals and build the kind of third space for familiarity and softness. That moment of noticing became the start of Ren, a now multi-location concept that blends a community-first ethos with strong operational backbone.
Lydia, the General Manager of Ren, has been a constant through much of its growth. With a coffee house and a bakery now under their wing, the Ren team has built a workplace culture with clear values and a sense of care.
Ren serves specialty coffee, locally made goods, and in-house favorites like their Mushroom Lattes and Mexican Mochas to a wide mix of customers (furry and human alike), on a spacious, tree-covered patio and indoor space designed for gathering and slowing down. They’ve built their business around supporting other local makers too, sourcing their coffee from two Tucson roasters and their whole milk from a nearby family-run farm. When asked about her biggest challenge, Lydia doesn’t talk about profit margins or competitors. She talks about building a place people genuinely want to show up to every day. That includes customers, but also the staff — especially the staff.
"You’re dealing with people all the time," she explains, "so it becomes this constant puzzle of managing emotions and logistics while holding the line on culture."
Why They Switched
For most of Ren's early years, Clover was their point-of-sale system. It was workable but rigid. There were unexpected fees and frequent lapses in support. When they launched the bakery, things became even more disjointed: multiple tools stacked on top of each other, none of them built to talk to or work with each other seamlessly. Online ordering required an extra layer of paid software. Troubleshooting could take hours, often on hold. So when Lydia met the Dripos team at SCA, it felt like an invitation to rethink how operations could feel.
What stood out most wasn't just the all-in-one functionality, but the relationship itself.
“They told me to call their support line on the spot,” she remembers, “and someone picked up within seconds. That hasn’t changed since."
They made the switch in August 2023. Lydia describes the process as filled with learning, but never isolating.
“There were definitely moments in the early weeks where I felt like I had Dripos on speed dial,” she laughs. “But every single time, someone picked up the phone. It made a huge difference.”
Operational Benefits that Actually Changed Things
Since switching, Lydia and her team have found that the features they use most are the ones she never know she needed. Lydia was most impressed by how gift cards can be processed digitally or physically in seconds and how loyalty points are tracked by phone number.
"We used to do stamp cards. People lost them constantly. Now, someone just types in their number and it’s there. That kind of ease keeps people coming back."
When it comes to tipping, the improvement has been material. With Clover, the customer was prompted to tip after the transaction was completed, which often meant they walked away before the screen appeared. On Dripos, Ren now prompts tipping before the payment finalizes, which Lydia believes has made a clear impact on barista take-home pay.
“It might not sound like much, but 50 cents more per ticket adds up in a real way for our team.”
But what Lydia appreciates most is the system’s backbone: the Reporting.
Dripos has helped the team use modifier data to understand exactly how much oat milk or how many everything bagels they go through in a week. That level of visibility has changed how they order inventory, set pars, and evolve their menu. They've made product decisions by running quarterly sales reports and identifying under-performers. They've adjusted weekly orders based on data. It has given them the kind of operational clarity that frees up headspace for the things that actually need human input.
A System That Grows With You
For Lydia, what stands out most is that Dripos doesn’t feel like another piece of software that you "deal with." It feels more like a partner that expands with the business. Everything from scheduling to messaging to online ordering is handled in one place. And, unlike their previous experience, no one is charging extra just to unlock basic features.
"Other systems would have $40 add-ons just to write a note on the schedule, or tell you you had to upgrade to see reports. That doesn’t happen here. It’s just all there."
The simplicity doesn’t mean it’s limiting. It means Lydia has more time to lead, shape culture, and show up for her team.
When asked how she would describe Dripos to another coffee shop owner, she puts it plainly:
“It’s intuitive. It’s integrated. And it’s supported. The learning curve is short, and the support is real. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.”
