Highlandtown’s High Grounds Coffee Roasters has plans for a new shop in Greektown
High Grounds Coffee Roasters, a reliable Highlandtown destination for hot coffee, cold brew and breakfast sandwiches for two decades, will branch out to nearby Greektown as the cafe’s new owners seek to highlight its wholesale offerings.
Married couple Josh and Mickie Pulley plan to open a High Grounds mini-mart this fall at 600 Rappolla St. in Greektown. The shop will be part cafe and part market, offering customers an opportunity to sample the roastery’s many specialty blends or to simply pop in for a grab-and-go latte and a snack.
The Pulleys purchased High Grounds two years ago from former owner Michael Wood and since then have focused on making gradual improvements to the community staple, which opened at 3201 Eastern Ave. in the early 2000s.
With the Greektown market, they hope to spread the word that High Grounds is more than a cafe. The Eastern Avenue shop has a roastery in its back room, where the Pulleys roast dozens of seasonal blends, as well as specialty coffees for local businesses. They also sell cold brew in bulk to restaurants to use in espresso martinis.
“We’re trying to position ourselves to have a business that’s more dedicated to the roastery,” said Josh, who was a manager at Lighthouse Canton before buying the coffee business with Mickie, who worked at High Grounds for a decade prior to becoming its part owner.
The new High Grounds market will sell bags of coffee, cold brew concentrate, bottled coffees and convenience store staples like milk, bread, eggs, soda and snacks. Customers can buy a drip coffee to go, but the shop will likely not have espresso drinks, like lattes and mochas, Josh said.
A highlight will be the opportunity to try seasonal brews year-round. Popular High Grounds blends in flavors like Irish cream, Snickerdoodle and Vermont maple, rotate on and off the cafe’s menu each month, but bags of those beans are available to buy anytime. The Highlandtown shop will continue to operate as usual, the Pulleys said.
The couple hopes to connect with a new neighborhood and a broader swath of local businesses through the venture, which they are aiming to open in September. High Grounds once had wholesale agreements with local grocery stores including Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, but those deals fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can still find their beans on Wegmans shelves.
“This is our way to get back into the swing of wholesaling,” Josh said. “The main concept of this place is to branch out in another way and have people see us in a different light.”