Imagine having a coffee shop just steps from home. That was Amy Clapper’s reality when she lived across from Pier 70 in Seattle. When the cafe closed, she was left searching for a new nearby spot to grab her daily caffeine fix.
“Once upon a time, there was a coffee shop here, and then there wasn’t. Everyday for the last three years, since it’s closed, I have been questioning, ‘When is somebody going to put a coffee shop in here?’” Clapper said in an Instagram video.
She continued, “I was solo parenting for a week when my husband was out of town for a work trip. I had taken my son on a walk and was trying to calm him down. I was so mad that I couldn’t just get a coffee. I just needed a little treat to get me through the day. Then I thought, ‘Why don’t I put a coffee shop in here?’ I know people want this because I am the target market, I live here.”
Now, Clapper’s caffeinated dream is coming back to life. 70 & Sunny Coffee Co. is opening in the long-vacant space, a playful nod to Pier 70 and her favorite kind of weather.
The shop will team up with Seattle coffee experts and feature pastries sourced from local wholesalers. It also plans to offer a variety of sandwiches, aiming to have them available at opening or shortly after. Clapper hopes the sandwiches will stand out for their quality and creativity.
“We’re definitely going to open with pastries. The idea of sampling pastries never crossed my mind and now that’s the thing I get to do. My goal is to surprise and add more things to the menu after we open. That’s my plan,” she said.
70 & Sunny will operate as a walk-up shop with no indoor seating, but it will offer outdoor tables in front of and around the building. When summer returns next year, the shop plans to expand its outdoor seating even further.
Clapper envisions the shop staying open all day, from sunrise to sunset.
“I want to be open when people are walking through this park, running through this park, when they’re coming to work, coming home from work or doing a sunset walk. Then, in the winter when it gets darker earlier and the park is not utilized as much, we will close earlier,” Clapper said.
While an exact opening date hasn’t been set, 70 & Sunny Coffee Co. is wrapping up permits and hopes to start brightening days by late fall. For the latest updates, check the shop’s website and follow along on Instagram.
[Editor’s Note: All quotes are directly from 70 & Sunny Coffee Co. Instagram Q&A Story.]
