The Loft Coffee Bar Hits Hewitt
The Loft Coffee Bar will open its doors this week, a welcome addition to the vibrant North Everett cafe scene. Loft is designed to be a cozy, community-friendly space where locals can book a meeting room or curl up in an armchair by a fireplace and use high-quality Wi-Fi.
Owners Tim and Devyn Gunn will be serving fair trade organic Vinaccio’s Coffee, roasted locally in Monroe. They have a few unique drinks up their sleeve, including a proprietary layered drink called a “Joe shooter” and the Cuban cafecito, in which brown sugar is packed in with an espresso shot. In addition to drinks Loft will offer a menu with organic salads, baked goods, and sandwiches.
Loft is located at 1309 Hewitt Avenue in a section of downtown that is booming with condos and new restaurants. It’s a choice location with plenty of foot traffic ensuring success for the Gunns who are long time coffee fans and first time investors.
The Gunn family.
The Gunns say they want Loft to be of service to Everett. They will offer discounts to Providence hospital staff, firefighters, police officers, and military personnel. Their food distributor, Molly’s, offers a “buy back” program, where all wrapped foods not sold at the cafe by expiration date will be donated to local food banks.
The Loft building dates to the 1920's, and originally was home to Joe’s Tavern, a place where good old boys met to talk. Joe—namesake of the aforementioned ”Joe shooter” drink—seems to have been a local character who sponsored Everett baseball teams and ran the popular bar during a period of intense urban growth when the city was flush with cash from waterfront mills.
In a strange intersection of personal and local history, Tim Gunn’s father remembers pulling Tim’s grandfather out of Joe’s back in the day after the old man had a few drinks.
The building has been a Chinese restaurant, King’s Café, and most recently an antique store. But when the Gunns bought the place in spring of 2016, it was basically a huge empty box with one bathroom.
Tim and Devyn spent the summer and fall building all of the fixtures from scratch, putting up walls made from reclaimed lumber and constructing counters. They had to redo all the electrical and plumbing with the help of a contractor.
The place looks great now, spacious with high ceilings and plenty of room for customers to mill around.
The months-long remodel was no walk in the park. Both Tim and Devyn work full time, he as a firefighter and she as an ER nurse at Providence (hence the discounts for customers doing public service). They also have three daughters, two of whom will be working at the cafe. Devyn’s mother, also an owner, will also be working there, making Loft Coffee a true family affair.
All that to say, it’s been a busy year for the Gunn family. They look relieved that the grand opening is around the corner, and seem happy to start capitalizing on their investment.
They say they look forward to introducing their coffee to Everett and fostering a community in a city that’s growing energetically. Here’s to their success.
Loft Coffee will have a soft opening Thursday December 1st, and their official grand opening Saturday December 3rd. You can stay up to date with them on their facebook page here.
The Loft Coffee Bar
1309 Hewitt Ave
Everett, Washington
Richard Porter is a social worker and musician. He lives in North Everett and enjoys running on Marine View Drive, bicycling down tree-lined streets, and trying to coax vegetables out of his yard.
