The interior of the Spot Coffee Shop at 1800 E. Main St. Customers eat at a patio outside.Chattanooga's newest coffeehouse has its origins in Ft. Payne, Ala. - but don't expect to hear its hometown country music superstars, Alabama, playing in background.
Indie music, organic coffee and a dozen sandwiches and paninis are some of the offerings at The Spot Coffee Shop, which had its soft opening on Memorial Day at 1800 E. Main Street in a tin-ceiling, brick building that formerly housed Freeman's Mattress.
The Spot is one of the easternmost outposts of the surge of new businesses, bars and restaurants on East Main Street that aim to appeal to the up-and-coming Southside neighborhood's demographic.
"'I can't believe we finally have a coffee shop on this side of town' - we hear that every day," said Rachel Morgan, one of three employees of The Spot in Ft. Payne who's commuting to Chattanooga for the time being to help get the new store up and running.
If you go
The Spot is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Business' owners Justin and Lori Sweeney have been looking for a year for a Chattanooga location, Morgan said, and they liked the building on East Main partly because "it looked so much like the one in Ft. Payne."
Sandwiches have been a big lunchtime draw for those who work and live nearby in the Southside, said Justin Carner, the coffeehouse's manager-in-training.
"It's been pretty steady," Carner said. "The biggest [customers] so far are people who live in the neighborhood."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.