By Ashton Gambill
Black Crow Coffee, a local hotspot and community favorite, has recently expanded to a second location near Central Avenue. The new location carries over the retro vibe from the original shop, while bringing a slightly different atmosphere with an outdoor patio and a garage-like setting.
Prior to the new location’s opening as a coffee shop, Black Crow was already using the space for coffee roasting and community events. Black Crow was offered the space a couple years ago when the property owner’s son came into the original Historic Old Northeast location, saying his father was looking for a tenant to rent an empty space.
“We’ve actually been roasting coffee here for two years,” said Black Crow co-owner Deana Hawk, who runs the shops with her boyfriend, Greg Bauman.
“The adjacent business next to us, who is also the property owner, decided to do their screen-printing at home,” Hawk said. “So the space became available and he asked us if we wanted to expand.”
Hawk said the building’s brick walls, garage doors and courtyard give the shop its own personality. Like the original location, the new building is adorned with antiques, vintage furniture and a variety of plants that give Black Crow its retro-yet-cozy vibe.
It took two months to transform the building from a coffee roasting space to an actual coffee shop. Many of the decorations around the shop Hawk pulled from her own home.
“When in doubt, put a plant in or take something from my house,” Hawk said with a laugh. “That’s what we did with the first (Black) Crow, too.It’s just been one big DIY project between Greg and I. I’m really, really proud of it.”
While the majority of the transformation was completed by the owners, some employees were able to pitch in as the shop entered its final stages of construction.
“Toward the end, I came in and helped with finishing touches,” said Black Crow barista Sadé Holmes. “I was coming once a week to water plants before the space was even open.”
Black Crow has a strong, loyal following, and many of its followers showed up for the second location’s grand opening. Holmes even noticed that some customers were visiting both locations on the same day.
“Yesterday I worked at both locations,” Holmes said. “I’ve noticed people stopping in at both ‘Crows.’ Like, they have their morning coffee at the old ‘Crow,’ and they come here for their afternoon coffee.”
Black Crow’s new location is at 2157 Fist Ave. S. The shop opens at 7 a.m. Unlike the Old Northeast location, it closes at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.
