You know at Honeycomb, we love a story with a dog. One of our most recent campaigns was with Atlanta’s Harbor Coffee, known by its fans as “Your dog’s favorite coffee shop.” Soon, it’s going to be everyone in Atlanta’s Beltline’s favorite coffee shop! Read on to learn about how they got started, and how they were able to raise money for their brick and mortar store with community investment through Honeycomb Credit.
Finding a safe harbor in Atlanta with community help
John Noojin and Caitlin Hemmer are the co-owners of Harbor Coffee, located in Atlanta’s historic Inman Park neighborhood. John is a veteran, serving as a Naval Aviator where he flew the MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. Caitlin is a professional actress, and the couple shares a love of theater which actually relates to the name of their coffee shop (inspired by a song from one of their favorite musicals, Hadestown).
Harbor Coffee started as a pop-up coffee shop, first as a cart, then in a temporary space that they built with the help of some friends. In the early days, they partnered with other Honeycomb alum Sarah Dodge of Bread is Good, who let them sell coffee during a walk-up sale of her bread and pastries.
Creating a permanent home for Harbor Coffee
Working in coffee was always a no-brainer for the couple.
“Coffee has always been a huge part of our relationship,” says John, ”And we’ve always wanted to open our own coffee shop. During the pandemic, we realized this was something we couldn’t wait on doing.”
And so, they started working on it, growing a loyal customer base and dreaming of the day they could open a brick-and-mortar location. In order to do that, they decided to finance it with a Honeycomb Credit investment offering. They were able to raise $74,075 from 57 investors, which will go into construction for their new retail space in Inman Park.
“By opening our brick and mortar, we’re going to be able to serve more people, expand our offerings, and become a permanent fixture in our neighborhood,” says Caitlin.
John and Caitlin are excited to open up their new brick-and-mortar store, thanks to the 57 investors in their Honeycomb offering. The community surrounding them is surely a driving force in what they do.
“When you think about the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had, you probably don’t think about the coffee itself, but the people you were with and the experience you were having,” says John. “We want to build a place that matches the quality of our coffee with the atmosphere we want to bring to our customers.”
From pop-up to community mainstay, Honeycomb can help you get there.
With investors in their communities, pop-ups like Harbor Coffee and Bread is Good have been able to become permanent locations in their neighborhoods, where they can both serve great products and become community builders. Learn more about how Honeycomb Credit can help your small business grow like them by filling out the form below!
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