New Orleans-based roaster and cafe, French Truck Coffee, will take up residence in phase two of the Orleans Station development when it moves into Suite 101 at 732 Madison Ave later this summer, according to owner Geoffrey Meeker.
“We’re really excited about that project,” says Meeker. “We have been part of Memphis for many years now, with our roastery at Crosstown and then we recently opened the Highland location. And then when Turley Companies came to us and said, you know, ‘We’re opening this Orleans Station,’ it was pretty serendipitous.”
As a brand that keeps community at the heart of everything it does – whether that be the neighborhoods in which it operates or the regions from which it sources beans – the rapidly-growing Medical District is a fitting location for French Truck’s third Memphis outpost.
It’s a sentiment that developer Alex Turley of Henry Turley Co. shares. Speaking to the Daily Memphian, Turley explained, “The whole goal of Orleans Station was to really help create an environment adjacent to the anchor institutions that would help enable them to attract students, faculty, residents, etc. We don’t see it as apartments and retail spaces; we see it as developing a community adjacent to the Medical District.”
Similarly, Meeker tells What Now Memphis, “The Medical District is really exciting for us. Doctors and nurses need coffee, and we’re going to be really excited to be able to provide them with that,” adding, “As I always tell people, coffee shops change neighborhoods – well, this is a brand new neighborhood so we’re excited to be part of the community and be a real magnet for the community to get together.”
While every French Truck location is unique in its own right, Meeker promises that this one will be the company’s best yet, as the team is continually learning and improving upon its processes. What’s more, the very nature of Orleans Station is conducive to a coffee shop experience unlike anything else offered in the city.
“We’re pretty excited to be able to have Memphians bein’ able to sit on the patio and drink a cup of our coffee roasted in Memphis, and looking at a street car trundling by.”
