A Kennesaw coffee company will join a new mixed-development near Athens, along with a popular big-box retailer.
Apotheos Roastery has a signed on as a tenant for Wire Park, according to an announcement. The 66-acre, mixed-use project is redeveloping a wire manufacturing plant in Watkinsville, Ga.
“Wire Park’s desire to create a gathering place for the community of Watkinsville immediately appealed to us,” Dale Hughes, the CEO and founder of Apotheos, said in a press release. “As a UGA alumni-owned business, we are excited to play a part in serving this great community.”
Hughes’ son, Luke Hughes, elaborated in a phone call. He said the new cafe will be roughly 1,000 square feet. They hope to open late this year at Wire Park, but that could get pushed to late winter or early spring 2023.
“Our roastery will remain in downtown Kennesaw,” said Luke, who serves as director of marketing. “But we are trying to get out more in the state, so it will be a full-service cafe. We also own Gabriel’s Bakery in Marietta, so we’ll be stocked with all their products, as well as hot breakfast items and full-service coffee offerings.”
That’s not the only project in the works. Luke also said Apotheos will open inside six Walmart stores across metro Atlanta. He couldn’t share the exact locations, but said some will be located inside the Perimeter.
Apotheos first opened in summer 2020.
“What makes us special is our devotion to the craft of coffee,” Luke said, adding Apotheos has a Diedrich semi-automatic roaster. “It allows us to perfectly recreate our craft coffee every single time by controlling all the input variables that go into roasting.”
Luke said that Apotheos is also focused on giving back to the community.
“We’re giving away anywhere between 10% to 50% of our profits back to local charitable organizations,” he said.
“That’s where our tagline — bolder, brighter, better together — comes from,” Luke said. “Because when you’re talking about our coffees, we do roasted blends, and we think the combination of different origins of coffees become bolder, brighter and better when they’re all roasted together. But then it also extends to the charity, where a community is bolder, brighter and better when everyone comes together for a common good.”
Among its efforts, Apotheos is the official coffee and cold brew of the Classic City Collective, he said, which supports University of Georgia athletes.
