As new developments continue to crop up College Park, Vigilante Coffee Company announced Thursday it will open a location along Route 1 before fall.
The new shop will be located at 8200 Baltimore Ave., formerly the location of #1 Liquors between The View and The Varsity student apartments, and will open sometime in late summer, said Ken Ulman, the chief strategy officer for economic development for the University of Maryland’s College Park Foundation. Vigilante Coffee opened its only other storefront in Hyattsville in 2014, though the store is also featured in markets and other pop-ups in the Washington area.
“Bottom line: great college towns have great coffee shops,” Ulman said. “We’re really excited about bringing a great and local coffee shop to a location here in College Park.”
The business specializes in serving unique coffee and providing coffee education, with its Hyattsville location hosting workshops ranging from brewing methods to latte art for those interested in learning more about the drink, said Chris Vigilante, the company’s owner and founder. The cheapest cup of coffee offered is $2.50, with the most expensive being a $16 cup of Panamanian coffee.
Although this city’s location will not host coffee workshops, Vigilante said the store will be creative with events and other sorts of educational opportunities.
“We saw this opportunity, and we’ve been looking for about two years in College Park and in the surrounding Maryland area for the right fit,” said Vigilante, adding that the area makes up “a community and audience that will get along very well with our brand and what we put out in our world.”
The shop will have 1,400 square feet of indoor space, Ulman said, but it will also feature outdoor seating. Vigilante said he also hopes to showcase artists from the university community to create art installations “to really invigorate [the] building and bring new life to it.”
The project goes along with this university’s Greater College Park initiative, which is a $2 billion public-private investment toward the revitalization and redevelopment of Route 1. The addition is an opportunity to renew the area, said Eric Olson, the College Park City-University Partnership’s executive director.
“I’m excited to have them here in College Park,” Olson said. “Making that site a nicer site with a coffee company and sprucing up the building and integrating it into the midtown area in a cool way — that’s a real benefit to our efforts to continue to improve College Park.”
Vigilante said he expects the new location to be very busy, adding that he’s thrilled to be a part of the city’s community and the legacy it holds.
“We hope that it’s open to everyone and anyone within the University of Maryland, College Park and the surrounding area,” Vigilante said. “We’re a shop that’s for everybody. We try to put a focus on our service and not cater[ing] to one clientele, but serving great coffee to anyone that wants it.”
