A new coffee bar will be coming to Chattanooga's Southside this month at the Moxy hotel.
The Up Down, featuring mainly coffee, lemonade and small food items, is slated to open May 18, after a soft launch. Moxy's director of sales and marketing, Kacey Swindell, said there is also a grand opening block party in the works closer to summer.
"[The name] Up Down kind of resulted from our ability to have coffee that lifts you up and then also in the evening we'll have decaf coffee, but also alcohol which we can mix into coffees or we can make espresso martinis," Swindell said in an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "So, wind down or wake up."
Owners are hoping to take advantage of the foot and vehicle traffic along King Street as well as serve guests at the hotel. Like their goal for the alcohol bar in the main lobby, Swindell said the target audience will be 70% locals and 30% guests.
Once open, customers will be able to order inside the Moxy at the counter or outside through a walk-up window from the sidewalk.
"I know there's plenty of spots around town to grab coffee," Swindell said. "There's just not on this little corner."
While the Moxy has offered coffee at its main bar since opening in 2018, the Up Down will focus mainly on coffee, using roasted beans from Chattanooga's Mad Priest coffee roasters, as well as lemonade with specialty nitro varieties. There are also a number of food options such as sandwiches and sweets.
According to Swindell, the shop is embedded in the Moxy but is not an outcropping of the international brand. The asset management company responsible for the local Moxy franchise, 3H Group, is running the new venture, with hopes to expand the concept in the future. Swindell said having the first location in the Moxy allows for shared resources while having a separate brand.
"If it were fully on its own, you know in a strip mall in Ooltewah or something like that, you might not have enough staff to have a marketing person," she said of her involvement as an employee of the Moxy, assisting with the Up Down. "So it's just nice to be able to work together, watch together."
Swindell said depending on staffing, the shop has plans to operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Contact Tierra Hayes at thayes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6693. Follow her on Twitter @TierraBHayes.