SAN ANTONIO – KSAT anchor Charles Gonzalez loves news, but he has a passion for coffee. So he has decided to give up his KSAT 12 anchor chair to focus solely on his growing coffee shop business. He will anchor his final newscast at KSAT on Nov. 26.
It’s not Gonzalez’s first career transition. He started in broadcasting as a sports reporter. For nine years he covered sports in several Texas TV markets and in Minneapolis. In May 2007, he started at KSAT where he transitioned to the role of general assignments reporter. He’s been anchoring the weekend newscasts at KSAT since 2008.
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Three years ago, Gonzalez decided to pursue another passion -- coffee. He went part-time at KSAT and opened his coffee shop “Rosella” on East Jones Avenue. It was a good thing he had his own supply of caffeine because since then, he’s been burning the candle at both ends, working seven days a week either at Rosella or at KSAT and many days at both jobs.
His hard work is paying off. The tables at Rosella (that he crafted himself) are filled from morning to night with people not only enjoying the food and beverages, but using the coffee shop as a place to meet up with friends, colleagues or as a place to work on their laptops.
And just this week, Gonzalez opened a second full-service location at the Rand Building with business partner Tom Schleuning. In addition to serving coffee, breakfast and lunch, Rosella at the Rand will also feature dinner service, a weekend brunch and a selection of craft cocktails.
And it doesn’t stop there. There’s a Rosella coffee counter inside the medical center Methodist Hospital. Later this year, several others will open inside H-E-B stores at The Alon Market and Lincoln Heights and on South Alamo in Southtown.
Rosella also sells its specialty roasted coffees for home brewing in H-E-B Central Market and several restaurants across town feature Rosella coffee on their menus.
Whew! That’s a lot of things brewing at once. And it’s why he’s decided that it’s finally time to give up his news job.
Gonzalez posted an emotional message on his Facebook page this week expressing how grateful he is for the success he’s had. Here is a section of that Facebook post:
"Generous" does little to describe how KSAT and my bosses have treated me since that day about 4 years ago when I walked into my former news director Jim Boyle's office and told him I wanted to go part-time to brew coffee. A few days later, Jim and our general manager Phil Lane signed off on my dream to follow a second passion. But now it's time to make a choice.
I'll anchor my last newscast on November 26. The decision became official two weeks ago but in reality it was made years ago. I'm "retiring" after nearly 20 years in broadcast journalism. I mean, c'mon I just buried the lead! It's very bittersweet but it's time for me to get some sleep.
Gonzalez’ co-anchor on Sunday nights, Myra Arthur, said she’s going to miss working with him but says she’s incredibly proud of him.
“For five years, Charles made Sunday my favorite workday. His humor and wit constantly make me laugh (no, really. He's hilarious!). He's a great friend and confidant. Nobody throws an eye roll at my lousy rendition of commercial jingles quite like Charles. I'll miss that. And his Friday Freebie voice. I'm so proud of him for going after his dream! We will all miss him so very much. Luckily, we know where we can pop in to say hello,” Arthur said.
Nov. 26 may be the last day San Antonians will see Gonzalez on their televisions, but there’s a good chance many coffee-lovers will run into him in real life as he continues to make his mark on the city where he grew up.
Check out this slideshow of Charles reporting, anchoring and joking around with co-workers at KSAT:
