Small Biz: Revelator Coffee making splash in Chattanooga

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

THE COMPANY• Name: Revelator Coffee Company• Owner: Josh Owen (majority investor), Emma Chevalier, Elizabeth Pogue• Locations: 60 N. Market St., 45 E. Main St.• Service: Coffee shop• How it got started: Venture capitalist Josh Owen• Initial investment: $2 million• Five-year goal: To open more Revelator stores across the Southeast and grow into a regional brand• Why Chattanooga: Owen said having visited Chattanooga, he liked the city's walkability and happened to find two usable locations for stores• What is unique?: Owen said Revelator will not be like "fancy" and "snobby" craft coffee shops. Rather than fashioning European architecture and looks inside, Revelator stores will feel American, with a diner atmosphere.• Website: www.revelatorcoffee.com• Contact: Revelator Coffee Company, 822 St. Peter St., New Orleans, La., 70116

photo Planned locations for Revelator Coffee Company in Chattanooga.

There is a ripe harvest in the Southeast.

Not of coffee.

But of coffee drinkers, says Josh Owen, primary investor in Revelator Coffee Company.

Owen is a Berkely, Calif., resident but is setting up a coffee company in New Orleans, and Chattanooga is on his list of first cities to get a Revelator location.

Two locations, in fact.

"We're only about six months old, so we're moving pretty quick," said Owen.

Coming off a potential partnership with a coffee company in the Southeast that fell through, Owen was awakened to what he calls an untapped market for a regional coffee brand.

And being a venture capitalist, he stepped in. Revelator Coffee was born.

Owen describes it as a venture to make and sell high-quality coffee at a reasonable price, and with an American flair.

Unlike European-style interiors, Owen said Revelator locations will feel and look more like American diners than European coffee shops. There will be a bar and booth seating areas.

Chattanooga joins the likes of cities like Birmingham and New Orleans as the first Revelator locations.

"We looked all over," he said, and "I really liked Chattanooga a lot. We happened to find two great spaces."

The Chattanooga stores will open, in Owen's words, "soon, I hope."

Compiled by staff writer Alex Green, who can be reached at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.