When Mychael Wright’s brother Thomas came home from Europe with an idea to open a coffee shop, his brothers laughed.

“(This) was well before Starbucks, Caribou, all those,” Mychael Wright said.

A few years later as Mychael Wright was preparing the first St. Paul location for Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe, he drew ridicule for the idea.

But Wright opened Golden Thyme on March 1, 2000, and, despite doubters along the way, it’s approaching its 24th year in operation.

In 2019, Golden Thyme moved across Selby Avenue to its current location. On Sept. 9, Wright will announce the shop’s new ownership during JazzFest, the music festival Golden Thyme has long sponsored.

His plan after leaving the shop is to start consulting to help others grow their small businesses. He said he also wants to work with people to improve the service industry through better retention and benefits like insurance and paid sick leave.

When “Top Chef” contestant Justin Sutherland, a St. Paul restaurateur, was injured in a boating accident in July 2022, he did not have health insurance. Wright decided he wanted to do something for others in the hospitality industry.

While this may be the last year Golden Thyme is involved in JazzFest, Wright is hoping the event is continued through longtime participant Walker West Music Academy.“They’ve been part of the community forever,” he said of the Selby Avenue music school. “I believe that they have the best interest of the community to keep it relevant, and I think they’re the ones that can go deeper than I did.”

Wright said he started JazzFest as a way to make the Summit-University neighborhood more appealing.

“(It) wasn’t looked on favorably at all, people avoided the area for the most part,” Wright said.

Wright has lived in St. Paul for 60 of his almost 65 years.

“It’s time for me to take care of me and the wife and chill for a little bit before we get out there again and work as much as we want to,” Wright said.

Wright met his wife, Stephanie, when he was 10, living on Aurora Avenue, and she was 12.

They didn’t see each other much between sports at Como Park Senior High School and Wright moving to Tennessee, but they later bumped into each other. They got married and had three children, who now have children of their own.

Those who laughed at Wright when he was renovating the first location before it opened said it would last three months.

“We learned not to laugh at Thomas again when he comes up with an idea,” Wright said of his brother.