Connecting People & Places
Connecting People & Places
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Client Spotlight: E&B Coffee
E&B Coffee is set to open in Nolensville this upcoming month. And if you read our “Best Coffee Shops” blog, you’d know we’ve been excited about this opening for some time.
“I think this was maybe a year after I was just hobby roasting, we decided to step up our roast operation and testing the market just to see if we could build some following and a brand and we quickly did,” says owner Erin S. McAtee on when he decided to open a retail shop.
E&B Coffee started as a hobby but quickly grew into a passion for Erin, and his wife, Bethany – “E&B” for Erin and Bethany. “We really felt like we were supposed to start a business we could involve our children in. I’ve got three girls now under four-years-old. I was started to get excited about this vision to build a company that my daughters could be involved in where my daughters could learn about the world and about life through family and business. We wanted to pair that with this new and developed love for coffee. That gave us such peace in our spirits when we talked about the family thing and the coffee thing together. It was something kids could get their heads around younger, you know, coffee roasting, customer service in a shop, those kinds of things. And we were marrying it to something that we were just falling in love with.”
McAtee started roasting as a hobby after his wife bought him a roasting kit for his birthday. He instantly fell in love with the concept and immediately desired to make more. This started a passion that would turn into a full business just a few years later.
“We’re excited to provide E & B Coffee with a location for roasting,” says Tyler Cauble of The Cauble Group, the commercial real estate brokerage that facilitated the deal. “There’s nothing more exciting than getting to work with passionate, talented business owners.”
“Coffee is very much a trusted brand,” says McAtee. “Like many other brands that we encounter, but coffee is really a trust and experience brand. People develop trust in your coffee after they experience it with you or come out to your retail location or visit you in a Farmer’s Market and get to know the people and like the coffee.” McAtee says they learned all of this while setting up booths at multiple Farmer’s Markets all over the Nashville area, including Hendersonville, all the way to Franklin.
Through all the trial and error, they found Nolensville to be the best location for their shop, and they are set to open this month. They want to share an experience with their customers, rather than just a cup of coffee.
Through roasting they own beans, they are able to build their shop to their own liking, and make it completely unique. Quality of coffee is only good when the quality of service is high, “If the coffee interferes with their expected experience like they have this vision to go have this awesome 30 minutes recharge, and then the coffee is disgusting, it interrupts the experience they were hoping for,” says McAtee. “If the coffee shop is super snobby, and they don’t feel like they are cool enough to be there, there’s this other end of the spectrum that can happen where they can have amazing quality coffee but they don’t feel comfortable, you can wreck it in the other direction.”
They aim to make the best cup of coffee with the best quality of service.
They aimed to shift away from them as owners and focus in on why someone would come to their shop. It isn’t simply good coffee, it’s that some people want a break in their day. Their “motto” isn’t a simple answer, but it’s something every barista will need to remember, “I guess I want people to hear that,” says McAtee. “We are trying to build a place that can focus on their moment. That’s everything from how they’re treated by our baristas to how the place is set up and how we create our seating. It’s not a very big place but we added outdoor seating. We’re trying to create that space where people can have that moment and not only have a killer cup of coffee but just have their time. Chick-Fil-A has ‘My pleasure,’ and I think our thing is going to be ‘Enjoy your time.’ I think we’re here to help you do that. I want people to hear that. We’re setting up a place that’s about their time. It’s about their moment. That’s what we’re focused on.”
So enjoy your time at their new shop, and enjoy a cup of coffee.
Client Spotlight: The Rabbit Hole VR
Down the Rabbit Hole (VR)
When you go out to dinner and plan a date night, video games aren’t the first idea of a good time.
But Rabbit Hole VR (Virtual Reality) plans to change that, not only in Nashville, Tenn., but also around the world.
The husband and wife duo, Mitchell and Jennifer Poythress, opened their doors in August of 2017.
“We were one of the first ones in Tennessee with this concept to open up and do as well as we are doing,” says Mr. Poythress.
“Ours was a completely original concept. From start to finish, we did all the research on it, we didn’t even go and see any other Virtual Reality arcades because there weren’t any at the time.”
The Rabbit Hole VR quickly became a favorite in the community for a date night, evening out with friends, or a Tuesday afternoon pick-me-up.
The Location
The space was made directly for them, by them. Tyler Cauble of The Cauble Group helped them find the space they are currently located in on Church St.
“The search was intense,” says Cauble. “We knew the concept would attract quite a buzz from Nashville’s booming tourism industry. Downtown / Midtown were really our only options for a strong tourism play.”
Opening their doors for business took only about two months.
“We signed the lease June 15th and opened August 12th,” says Mitchell.
“We did a lot of it ourselves – all the tracking systems, VR equipment, projectors, TVs, networking, was all done by me and my family. The drywalling and divider walls were done by a contractor, who we actually kicked out of the space. They were telling us it was going to take until about August 19th and we just had to tell them to come to get their stuff and we would finish it so we could be open on the 12th. We were painting the floors the day before we opened.”
It was a profuse amount of work, but it was work they had to get done so they could build this dream into a (virtual) reality.
The Future
After being open only a year, The Rabbit Hole VR already has enough business to expand, tapping The Cauble Group to help in this process.
According to Jennifer: “We plan to dominate the Southeast in terms of being a Virtual Reality arcade, but what that actually looks like is going to change with technological advances. Basically the plans are over the next few years to tweak what we are offering and open multiple locations throughout the Southeast.”
Their goal was to take over Nashville. Now they’re looking throughout the country.
“People always say, ‘I don’t play video games!’ But we have something for everybody,” says Mr. Poythress.
“We currently offer about 35 titles, hand selected from developers around the world and a wide range from underwater adventures to shooting zombies. Whatever you want.”
Unlike Any Other
Rabbit Hole VR creates a gaming experience unlike any other.
Other group outing locations, such as Topgolf or Escape room, offer a limited experience. The beauty of a virtual reality arcade is being able to experience something different every time.
“Come back and play,” says Jennifer. “We are always getting new experiences. The best part of the virtual world is that it’s always changing. You aren’t stuck to any one adventure, because we can keep adding new games.”
Learn more about The Rabbit Hole VR here.
Interested in opening your own experience in Nashville? Get started here.
Client Spotlight: Duet Boutique
What was once a dream quickly became a reality: Duet Boutique.
“We opened Duet Boutqiue at the very end of November 2017. Just under a year ago,” says Blake Paxton, co-owner of the shop along with Cody Belew.
Duet is a high-end women’s clothing boutique on West End. The chic space is overflowing with beautiful women’s apparel, jewelry, and even candles and accessories. The duo curates beauty for all budgets, for Vanderbilt students and Belle Meade country clubbers, alike.
The suite might look perfect now, but it has come a long way since they leased the space.
“It was bigger than what we needed but we came to take a look because it was one of the only retail sites available at the time on West End,” says Tyler Cauble, Principal Broker of The Cauble Group, which facilitated the deal. “It was very run down. The space wasn’t ideally laid out and we needed to do a lot of work on both the interior and exterior. The landlord wasn’t willing to put any money in it so we had to negotiate a year of free rent (to justify the expense that we had to come in here). The space had to be perfect – you have to get first impressions right.”
The Location
The location couldn’t be more perfect for the team at Duet to occupy. It brings modern and minimalist vibe to a complex business. Paxton and Belew drive this passion for fashion and modern tastes and create something more remarkable and unique in the Nashville area.
“Customers come back to us because they say ‘It feels like a store in LA or Paris,’” says Belew. “That’s what we set out to do and that’s the way it feels. It’s a testament to the hard work we’ve put in as entrepreneurs and business owners that don’t have a bigger company behind us.”
The work for Cauble doesn’t end after the papers are signed. He tends to follow up with clients to ensure the best care. “After the lease is fully executed and the tenant is building out the space, our job is technically done,” says Cauble. “But I stay more involved with my clients. I come by every once in a while, attend grand openings, and remain in constant communication with them to make sure their happy and doing well. We’ve talked about doing events here – I like to make sure my clients are happy.”
And Duet Boutique is happy. They have created a beautiful workplace and an ideal shopping experience that their customers adore. 
“We really want to be a place that creates a level of customer service that people can’t help but to come back because they enjoyed this experience,” says Paxton. “We want to hear about what people want or what is missing. We’re happy to work with people.”
They strive to better their business every day, and that’s the beauty in their boutique.
Find more on Duet Boutique here.