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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, January 2, 2014 | 6 Café gets makeover in random act of kindness by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" Brett Titus closed up his Bean There café at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22, just like every Sunday night, but little did he know he would return to a whole new shop the morning after. During that evening and into the wee hours of Monday, a little more than 10 staffers from the nearby Lululemon store performed a random act of Christmas kindness on Titus' café by giving it a complete makeover. The entire coffee shop had been repainted, new framed pictures were mounted on the walls, brand new menu boards were hand-painted and mounted, and a new commercial coffee grinder had replaced Titus' "old, beat-up version," -- the crew even xed the leaky toilet in the ladies bathroom. "I was quite surprised," said Titus, who has owned and run the downtown Oakville café, at 106 Reynolds St., for 19 years. "There was a sign on the door that they had left explaining everything. I started walking around... I just couldn't believe it. I've painted the café many times over the years and I know the amount of work that goes into just that alone." The Lululemon staff and local professional painter John Giancarlo of Brush of Fresh Air painting, gained after-hours access to Bean There thanks to Caylin Bengert -- who used to work for Titus before moving over to Lululemon. "I still ask her to help out for part-time stuff every now and then, so she has a key to the café," said Titus. "They also contacted my wife (Lambrina), who happened to be in New York City that weekend, just to make sure they had someone's OK with it all." As a company, Lululemon launched its 31-day No Humbug Challenge on Nov. 24 for its staff during the hectic Christmas season to help remind them of what the holidays are all about. Each day was broken down into a challenge for staff to do, whether it was buying a coffee for someone in front of them in line or trying something new that day. "What we decided to do as a store was to support our community and someone really close to our hearts," said Alex McPhail, who is a manager at the 291 Lakeshore Rd. E. Lululemon. "For us, Brett is someone we really look up to in the community because he's a marathon runner and a lot of people know him in downtown Oakville, so we just wanted to show him how much we support him and love him and just give back to everything he's given to us." Lululemon, with the help of jewelry boutique bluboho, spent approximately two weeks planning everything out, pulling it all together days before Dec. 22. The Bean There café in downtown Oakville recently got a surprise makeover, courtesy of the staff at the neighbouring Lululemon. The renovation was how the local tness clothing store took on Lululemon's 31-day No Humbug Challenge, which inspired staff to perform random acts of kindness during the holidays. Above, Bean There owner Brett Titus shows the note left on his door the morning after the renovation. At right, Titus and Lululemon staffer (and former Bean There employee) Caylin Bengert sit under some of the newly-mounted art in the café. | photos by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/ HaltonPhotog) Titus says this is the rst time he's ever experienced a random act of kindness of this magnitude. "I think it says a lot about the downtown part of Oakville as a community," he said. "There have been, in the past, a lot of mom-pop type businesses here that have left, and the gang at Lulu keep coming back here over the years and have been great at supporting me and the local café. It was just so over-the-top. I'm really humbled by it." OPC Volume 52 | Number 1 Ontario Press Council Defending principles to inspire public trust 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice­President and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Halton Region Editor in Chief Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Advertising Department (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4444 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 DANIEL BAIRD Director of Advertising ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor