Since taking over the former Sam Steel Café in Gerald Thomas Hall, Kelley Coffeen ’94 ’14 has led a team from NMSU’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in developing a retail concept tailored to students’ tastes and budgets.
After months of working with FCS staff and students from her buying class, Coffeen has landed on what she believes is a bankable model. She gave the space a new name, ACES Coffee and Gifts, introduced a streamlined food and drink menu of affordable options, and added a few extra touches to keep customers coming back.
“We decided as a team that we wanted it to be affordable for the students,” says Coffeen, fashion design and merchandising associate professor. “We dropped all the prices, and we tried to keep our markups fairly low where we make a reasonable profit, but we’re not overcharging.”
ACES Coffee and Gifts offers exactly what its name implies. It sells a 99-cent cup of coffee as well as customizable espresso drinks, smoothies, specialty teas, green chile biscuits, croissants, cookies and other pastries made by a student baking team.
There’s also a rotating line of ACES and Aggie apparel, hats and accessories made in Las Cruces by Sports Accessories Inc.; a range of wall décor, tote bags, candles and other gifts; and a free library nook tucked into a corner.
For Coffeen, breathing new life into the old space bridges her interests in retail education and teaching. It also brings more food options to the far west side of campus and provides students working behind the counter with valuable customer service experience in a food service setting. A team of five students ran all aspects of the shop in fall 2025.
“It’s been a fun experience,” says Destyni Marquez, a sophomore who helps manage the shop. “I’ve learned about good customer service, working as a team and handling stressful situations. It’s been cool meeting new people and getting to know our regular customers.”
ACES Coffee and Gifts is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon Friday. For updates, follow @acescoffee_ on Instagram. To help support the shop, reach out to Coffeen at
kcoffeen@nmsu.edu.
Top: Manager Destyni Marquez serves up a refreshing beverage at ACES Coffee and Gifts, located inside Gerald Thomas Hall on the NMSU campus. Below: Atlee Musgrave, a senior at NMSU, browses some of the merchandise the shop has to offer.
Dove Hall, Room 212
305 N. Horseshoe Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88003
