Sometimes, the stories behind the origin of a business can take a few twists and turns and Burlaep on E. 11th Street is one such enterprise.
Located a couple of blocks south of the Community Kitchen in an old Service Industrial Supply Co. building, 4,200-square-feet of the space is dedicated to a print shop and the other 3,200-square-feet of space is used for retail and a coffee shop and tap room.
Cleat Morris and his wife, Lauren, moved to Chattanooga from Starkville, Mississippi, after he realized he was spending most of his free time traveling to Tennessee to pursue their love for the outdoors. After managing a book store in East Brainerd for a few years, he opened Burlaep with fellow Mississippi State alum, Jacob Nelson about a month ago.
The road to Chattanooga started 11 years ago, however, and the story behind it has as much to do with the name, as anything else.
In between worrying about the normal things that college students fretted over like term papers and finals, Morris and three friends at Mississippi State came up with the idea of making a difference in other people’s lives. In particular, less fortunate folks in a foreign country.