The former Starbucks in the Central District will become a new location for Black-owned coffee shop Black Coffee Northwest later this year, the owners announced Tuesday, saying they aim to bring culture and access to resources for the Black community.
Darnesha and Erwin Weary, owners of Shoreline’s Black Coffee Northwest, said they plan to continue the location’s legacy in the Central District, a historically Black neighborhood that has also long felt the effects of gentrification.
The coffee shop, at 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street, will bring internships, youth programs and partnerships with other Black businesses to create a space for important conversations, Darnesha Weary said.
“Black businesses were there, they were the heartbeat of that community, and we need to go back and reclaim our space, and again become the heartbeat of that community,” she said.
Black Coffee Northwest, which opened in 2020, will keep its original location in Shoreline for now. “We’re going to figure out what’s the best business move for that location,” Erwin Weary said. “But we are opening up some more locations in the area, and we’ll be making those announcements very soon.”
Black Coffee Northwest was sued last month for unpaid rent for its Shoreline location amounting to $22,800. The landlord, Bethany Community Church, said in the lawsuit that Black Coffee began missing rent and utilities in early 2022, and added in the suit it forgave $53,000 of missed rent and utilities in October, but that Black Coffee still owed $22,800. In November, BCC issued Black Coffee a notice to vacate.
Darnesha Weary said that although they would like to remain in that space, ongoing issues with the building’s landlord, including the lawsuit, might make them leave. Darnesha Weary said in an interview that their values did not match with the landlord’s. BCC kept raising the monthly rent from $5,000 to $7,500 and was unsupportive in fixing structural problems in the building, she said. She declined to share the cost of rent for the Central District location.
After Starbucks closed in July, property owner Vulcan was keen on finding a tenant that matched with the Central District, Erwin Weary said, and Black Coffee Northwest was a fit.
“We are excited to welcome Black Coffee to the neighborhood,” said Vulcan’s Director of Commercial Marketing and Leasing Geralyn Vannoy. “They are exactly the kind of tenant we hoped to find, not just a great coffee shop but also a safe and welcoming space for the community to gather.”
Erwin Weary said he envisions the space displaying Black culture and providing access for Black people to meet, have conversations and find jobs. They have a 20-year history of community work, including youth development, in the Seattle area, Darnesha Weary said.
“It’s about growth, it’s about empowerment,” Erwin Weary said. “We are a hub that likes to not only employ people of color, but we also want to make sure we’re providing access to services or at least connecting them to the services or the people that can help them.”
Starbucks had been the longtime occupant of the space in the Central District, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Seattle that was home to Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson. The Seattle-based coffee giant opened the store in 1997 after a bid by the now-defunct Central Area Development Association. Former CEO Howard Schultz approved the bid personally, according to former CADA Executive Director George Staggers, who described Starbucks leaving the location last July as “a loss to the community.”
Darnesha Weary said she remembers going to that Starbucks when she was younger and doing community service nearby. She said she felt emotional when she entered the space with her business being the new tenant.
“We literally used to meet there and have meetings about our youth work,” Darnesha Weary said.
Staggers said that it was a victory that Starbucks came to the Central District in 1997. But as the neighborhood began dealing with a dwindling Black population, Starbucks’ exit became an opportunity to counter gentrification.
K. Wyking Garrett, CEO of Africatown Community Land Trust, an organization that advocates for land ownership for the Black community, said in an interview in July he wanted the vacant space to bring Black-owned businesses back to the neighborhood.
“There are still young people that are very much connected or feel rooted in the community even though they’ve been dispossessed, and that is a whole other sense of trauma,” Garrett said at the time. “The redevelopment should be one that provides opportunities to address that trauma and create healing.”
More than connecting the community with people and services through coffee, Darnesha Weary said she wants the space to inspire the next generation to start to build generational wealth by becoming business owners.
Nearby are a high school and a middle school. Erwin and Darnesha Weary’s daughter, Mikayla Weary, said she hopes the coffee shop will be a safe gathering space for youths and even the first job for many. Darnesha Weary said they plan to open the location by the end of the summer, before school starts.
“We have to make sure we are bringing Black businesses and Black neighborhoods back in that area,” Erwin Weary said. “It should be a great place for you to live, especially if you’re Black and Brown people. We need to be able to have our areas where we can thrive.”
