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A vibrant, inviting new hot spot is open to warm the winter chills.

Vibrant Coffeehouse & Kitchen, at 3230 Ridge Point, Bettendorf (off Belmont Road) opened last month, the third coffeehouse owned by Moline-based Vibrant Credit Union. The 5,968-square-foot facility (just across the street from a drive-thru Atomic Coffee) was formerly a Vibrant Credit Union branch that was totally transformed after six months of renovations.

It fills the need for a larger, comfortable sit-down restaurant in that part of Bettendorf, in between both Pleasant Valley High School (0.4 miles away) and Bettendorf High (1.9 miles away), Vibrant CEO Matt McCombs said Tuesday.

The PV location (a seating capacity of approximately 133) has been unique for Vibrant, since several high school students have part-time jobs there (among 30 employees), he said. “It brings a new energy and atmosphere to us,” he said. “That’s been a lot of fun.”

Vibrant first opened a credit union in Bettendorf (as the former DHCU) there over 11 years ago, on 12/12/12. The credit union historically was based on the Illinois side of the river, and wanted to expand to the growing Bettendorf area (after opening a Davenport branch), McCombs said.

The first thing the Bettendorf credit union did was a promotion in December 2012 for a 1-percent mortgage, he recalled. “That location continued to do really well, but like we’ve seen in our other areas, there’s been such a shift of consumer behavior on the frequency they need to visit an actual stand-alone bank office,” he said.

Vibrant looked at how the Bettendorf location could be best used, in “a pretty vibrant area of the Quad Cities,” the CEO said. “With the coffeehouse success we’ve seen in Moline and in Des Moines already, we looked at that as just a prime area where we could drive more traffic activity, people interacting with the organization.”

Vibrant opened its first stylish, rustic coffeehouse in fall 2022 next to the Vibrant headquarters at 6600 44th Ave., Moline. This past summer, it renovated an existing space in Des Moines’ East Village area for its second coffeehouse.

The unique aspect to the Moline coffeehouse is that it’s next to the Vibrant HQ, with its 170 employees, on the eastern end of John Deere Road. But it’s not in the middle of things like the new Bettendorf brew haven.

“It’s not always the most convenient to leave here and get to another place,” McCombs said of Moline. “We made the decision between what we were trying to do from an employee standpoint, the neighborhood, from the member benefit — how we’re able to continue to grow our relationships.”

“The Moline location has gone really well,” he said. “We’re excited to see the amount of members and non-members that make their way into this. We see a lot of repeat business.”

Vibrant has witnessed an explosion in the free loyalty program for the coffeehouse (you don’t have to be a credit union member to join), with over 4,000 signed up for that rewards program, McCombs said.

They’re rolling out a new loyalty phone app starting in February.

The Des Moines coffeehouse opened in late summer 2023, after Vibrant had closed a credit union office in the Iowa capital city (which opened in 2019). Vibrant has plans for a handful more — including a new one in front of the new Vibrant Music Hall, which opened in November 2023 in the Des Moines suburb of Waukee.

McCombs said there’s not an exact date when the Waukee coffeehouse will open.

Banking is changing

“We’ve been excited about the ways in which we see banking changing. It has so much to do with customer engagement today,” he said. “How do we get individuals to engage with us as a brand? That opens the door for us to really go down the path of, starting to talk to folks about some of the key products we have.”

That does not mean, however, that coffeehouse staff solicit any credit-union business from customers, McCombs said.

“The big opportunity for us was, could we drive enough interactions to where people would know who you are as you start to roll out some products we think are really beneficial for us?” he said.

On Wednesday (Jan. 3), the credit union will install a new interactive teller machine (ITM) in Bettendorf, similar to those in Moline and Des Moines, which will be activated in mid-January in Bettendorf. You can do all banking services through the ITM, and speak with a Vibrant employee on a video screen.

There’s no limit on cash withdrawals as well, McCombs said.

The new coffeehouse will not feature traditional banking offices or tellers, since most people prefer to access services online or from their phone, McCombs said.

“Consumers are looking for really good deals and convenient ways to open,” he said. “The coffeehouse gives us a way to leverage our brand, so you know who we are, but our products we believe are strong enough that people want to use. Once people know who we are, the products really sell themselves behind it.”

The credit union focuses on local services to be able to compete with national financial institutions, McCombs said. “We’d all rather go to our local hardware stores than the nationwide chains,” he said. “However, if it’s not price competitive or not convenient, then we’re not gonna do it.”

Vibrant has rolled out a savings account that pays 4.5 percent, he noted.

Promoting local

Vibrant wanted to focus on promoting the local community, so there’s a lot of merchandise and logos related to PV and Bettendorf throughout the coffeehouse.

“We want to engage with the communities we’re in,” McCombs said. “You are bombarded with the fact that there are two extremely talented school districts right there, we wanted to make sure we were engaging with and having some fun with.”

A couple weeks ago, students who brought their high school ID could earn points to get $1 energy drinks the entire month of January, and PV won that challenge.

“We’re gonna keep doing things that engage with both the students as well as the parents in that community all the way through,” McCombs said. “The two school districts have actually been great to work with, and we appreciate that. Because our goal is, how do we enhance the experience around?”

Vibrant worked with the following local vendors for merchandise available in the coffeehouse:

• Raygun (T-shirts)
• Handcrafted FCD (wristlet wallets)
• Perennity – washable paper products (earrings, wallets)
• Wander Collective (clay earrings)
• Neat & Navy Blue (roller oils, candles, soaps)

The top items sold so far have been Neat & Navy Blue Perfume Rollers and Raygun “Pleasant AF” Tees.

The interior and exterior artwork (including for the outdoor patio to come) was done by 28-year-old Davenport artist Brandon Nees of Mars Murals. He is the artist who created the 2020 “Possibility” mural on the ground level of the vacant Spiegel Building off River Drive and the 74 bridge.

Quad City Arts praised Vibrant on Facebook Dec. 20 for “recognizing the power of art in enhancing our surroundings and creating a welcoming atmosphere for all.”

“Ever wondered how projects like these come to life? Businesses like Vibrant reach out to us for artist recommendations,” Quad City Arts said. “We connected them with Brandon (Mars Murals) through our Artist Index, they were looking for graffiti artists and it is his expertise. The collaboration resulted in a vibrant mural that not only adds creativity but also showcases a commitment to community spirit.”

The new coffeehouse has a conference room (8-10 person capacity) that can be reserved for groups and business meetings, that’s free to use.

“In that Bettendorf community, you have a lot of stay-at-home parents that are involved in a lot of activities between school and the community,” McCombs said. “It’s just a great spot for that.”

Any Vibrant member with a credit union card can get a 20% discount from its coffeehouse locations.

The loyalty app will eventually offer incentives at the Moline Vibrant Arena and Vibrant Music Hall.

The credit union (which didn’t disclose the dollar figure it spent to name the Des Moines venue) in 2022 acquired naming rights to the former TaxSlayer Center (1201 River Drive, Moline) for $4 million over 10 years, and effective Sept. 1, 2022 it became Vibrant Arena at The MARK. 

Moline and Bettendorf coffeehouse hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

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