Monday, April 12, 2021

[EXCLUSIVE] East Pole Coffee Secures Special Space for Second Shop

The owners of East Pole Coffee have secured a special intown site for the their second coffee shop.  Newly released marketing materials for The Plaza on Ponce confirm that a new East Pole Coffee will open in place of San Francisco Coffee at 676 North Highland Avenue.  San Francisco Coffee (now known as Apotheos Roastery) closed its shop in 2019 following a fire in its space.  

East Pole Coffee, launched out of a Grant Park garage in 2015, opened their first shop and roastery in 2017 at Armour Yards on Ottley Drive.  Founded by friends Jared Karr, Matt Chesla, and Jules Tompkins, East Pole has twice been named "best coffee roaster in Georgia" by Food & Wine. [Savannah's Perc Coffee, essentially given honorable mention by Food & Wine, recently opened a new shop at 1046 Virginia Avenue after a "pop-up" within Southern Belle at The Plaza on Ponce earlier this year.]  Karr, East Pole's "head of coffee and primary operator," named the company after the place where he first fell in love with coffee: Indonesia, which he referred to as "The East Pole" during his time there in 2013.   

According to the company, "East Pole began with a very simple, four-word mission: "Let's serve Atlanta well." We're focused on bringing great coffees from around the world to our city, roasting those coffees as thoughtfully as we can, and serving that coffee as kindly as we can."  

Unlike their 1,713 square foot Armour Yards location which includes a roastery and coffee shop, the new 1,487 square foot Plaza on Ponce outpost will be strictly a coffee shop and will not include an onsite roastery, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.  

At The Plaza on Ponce, East Pole will join existing neighbors such as the Plaza Theatre, Urban Outfitters, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Majestic Diner, Southern Belle and Insomnia Cookies, among others.  In addition to East Pole, previously announced upcoming openings in the center also include a new Jinya ramen bar, and Fishmonger, a new boutique seafood market and eatery from Nhan Le and Skip Englebrecht, the owners of 8 Arm and Octopus Bar.  All three of the upcoming openings are to make their debut in the coming months, pending worse than normal City of Atlanta permitting.  

Following the lease execution with East Pole, The Plaza on Ponce has just one remaining vacancy, a 3,635 square foot space made available earlier this year by the closure of CrossFit studio B2B Fitness. 

Are you excited for the opening of East Pole Coffee in Poncey-Highland? What is your favorite local coffee shop? What would you like to see open in the former B2B space?

Please share your thoughts below.  

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