Move over Starbucks: Summit Coffee to open 10+ shops in 2022

• And by the end of 2022, the coffee chain will have 17-19 locations in all, including some outside of the state.

Driving the news: Summit Coffee Co.’s new SouthPark location opens in the Piedmont Town Center this Saturday, December 11, at 8am.

Why it matters: It’s cool when things start in the Charlotte area expand outside our bubble.

Flashback: The coffee chain started as a small shop on Main Street in Davidson in 1998 and became a fixture for college students and locals there. It expanded onto nearby Davidson College in 2013 and in downtown Asheville in 2017.

When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, all Summit locations shut down and the company opened a temporary coffee drive-thru in an old Wells Fargo bank in Davidson, Axios’ Emma Way reported. 

Co-owner Brian Helfrich told Emma that without the drive-thru, expansions would’ve stopped at that point. “It ultimately helped save the business,” Helfrich said.

• In December 2020, Summit’s first Charlotte location landed in NoDa.

Then they started franchising: The first franchise location opened in Huntersville this past spring. Another is under development on The Plaza in Charlotte, and that’ll be owned by Davidson graduate Will Funderburg and his wife, Eleanor.

What’s next: Well, for starters, the SouthPark location, this Saturday. It’ll have the same menu as its other locations, but the inside of the shop will look different than its other locations. It’s clean, sleek, and the company’s signature white and teal topographical design (the one on their coffee cups) covers the walls. 

Later next spring, they’ll open a location in Mooresville.

Then, the world? Not out of the question, seeing as they’re aiming to open 10-12 more locations next year.

Their first location outside of North Carolina will be in Roswell, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.

Details: The SouthPark Summit will be open 7am-7pm Monday-Wednesday, 7am-9pm Thursday-Friday, and 7am-5pm Sundays.

The address is: 4265 Piedmont Row Dr.