The story behind Matchacita’s name change: Walking down South Street in downtown Kalamazoo, it’s hard to miss the bright red “OPEN” sign at Matchacita. It stands out, living between an eye care center and a plant nursery. You might have recently noticed something else, a new name. “We got a cease and desist from another Matcha café which also has the name Matcha cita,” owner Yazmine Vargas Root said. Vargas Root and her husband, Tyler opened a Matchacita brick and mortar on South Street in 2024 but started the matcha-centered café in 2022 at the Kalamazoo Farmers’ Market. Matcha is a finely ground powder of green tea. “We saw a market and went for it,” she said. Vargas Root was born and raised in Kalamazoo had the dream of opening a café since she was a child. “I remember, I went one year to Mexico, we went to this woman’s house to get breakfast and…whatever was on the menu you ate so, I wanted to bring that back here,” she said. The name, Matchacita was rooted in family since the start. “Matchacita came from an inside joke between my mom and me,” Vargas Root said. We love chisme, which is gossip in Spanish. So, we would say ‘Vamos un Cafecito y chisme.’ So, we would go get a little coffee and a have little gossip. Making the cease-and-desist letter she received from a Chicago café even more difficult. “When I first received the letter, it was a little heartbreaking and really discouraging,” Vargas Root said. “I love Matchacita and what it meant to me, how it paid homage to my mom,” she said. “To feel like I had to let it go was heart wrenching, honestly.” Her next step was to consult with a local lawyer who specializes in copyright and trademark laws to discuss their options. “Matchacita is in a different language and has a different meaning than if we were in a predominantly Spanish-speaking country but unfortunately that doesn’t have too much weight here,” she said. The couple weighed their options. “He recommended it would be in our best interest as business owners to just change the name, you’ll save money because there’s a high chance you’ll lose.” The couple started to throw new names out there. “We went through so many names…but we got to Matcharia, and I wasn’t a huge fan at first,” Vargas Root said. She called on her community for input and put up a poll on Instagram for a vote. “The votes all said Matcharia,” Vargas Root said. “It’s similar to Matchacita, the same vibe.” Matcharia, means matcha place. -“When you add an r-i-a to the end of a word it kind of makes it a place for that specific thing,” Vargas Root, a Latina said. A new name created, and lesson learned. “I have learned from all of this, patience and there are people who have your back,” Vargas Root said. “I have learned, don’t give up, keep going. The community has your back.”