After more than ten years of slowly growing its original location downtown on South Main, Bluff City Coffee & Bakery is expanding to a second shop.
A grand opening expected by late next month in the heart of Cooper-Young at 945 Cooper Street. Bluff City joins other coffee shops like Tart and Java Cabana in the immediate Cooper-Young area as well as Otherlands and Muddy’s Bake Shop a little further north on Cooper.
“We’ve been looking for several years for the right spot to be able to expand,” said owner David Adams. “It will be very similar to what we do Downtown. It’s in a great neighborhood, which is just like where we are Downtown on South Main. So it will be very neighborhood-oriented.”
Bluff City touts high-quality, made-to-order espresso beverages and sells no brewed coffee. For the past decade, Adams has sourced espresson beans from the West Coast.
The Bluff City menu will feature a wide variety of espresso beverages, teas and smoothies, pastries, sweets and hot and cold breakfast and lunch sandwiches served on baked breads made in-house.
“Everything that goes into our case is baked in our facility,” said Adams. “We don’t buy any (baked goods) from outside vendors.”
General contractor USGC Construction just started work at the new location in Midtown, and construction costs are estimated at $85,000. Since the interior space only measures 1,300 square feet, Adams plans to have most of the seating outside on the patio, which was formerly a covered drive-up area for a Bank of America. The building was built in 1955.
He expects to hire six to seven new employees over the next month.
For now, further expansion for Bluff City is not likely.
“We’re always listening, we’re always looking, but no immediate plans,” said Adams.
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