Waterbean Coffee has plans to open its first location in Gastonia this summer in a 4,100-square-foot space at 618 W Franklin Blvd. They are aiming for a July opening, owner Tony Vo told What Now Charlotte.
Vo said he was attracted to Gastonia’s growth and saw a gap in the market for specialty coffee. Vo has been aiming to expand to the site for about two years.
“I felt like Gastonia would benefit from having a specialty coffee shop out there,” Vo told What Now Charlotte. “And we decided to open the biggest one there because it’s surrounded by a small town that doesn’t have a [lot of] places to go to hang out. So that’s the reason why we decided to expand and grow in Gastonia.”
This location will have upgrades from existing spots for the specialty coffee location. This shop, which the brand is calling Waterbean Coffee Exquisite, will feature unique, high-end specialty coffee offerings and will have an on-site bakery.
Vo, who grew up in the Charlotte area and attended UNC Charlotte, opened the first Waterbean Coffee location in Cornelius in 2013. Since then, it has grown to 18 locations in the Greater Charlotte area, including spots in Charlotte and in surrounding areas like Hickory, Winston-Salem and Belmont.
“Here at Waterbean Coffee, we always try to stay original and never follow the trends,” the Waterbean Coffee website states. “In a time when most coffee shops focus on getting the customers in and out of their doors the quickest, we try to give them a place to relax, hold meetings, go over schoolwork, or just hang out with friends.”
