Saturday marks the end of an important chapter in the Tampa Bay coffee scene. That’s when Joel Davis closes the door on Union, the coffee shop he opened at Tampa Armature Works in February 2018 then moved to Pickford’s Counter this spring.
Pickford’s—which reopened last summer with retailer David Hansen, plus chefs Ben Pomales and Adrianna Siller at the helm—will continue to operate the coffee program built out by Davis, who in 2014 was the first person to bring pressure-brewed, nitro-pushed cold brew to Tampa Bay.
“All the equipment, the horchata lattes, some of the staff, are all staying to help Pickford’s run what we’ve built here,” Davis told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Davis added that his Commune+Co. pressure brew operation—which also kegs Tampa’s best coffee cola—will continue to operate out of Seminole Heights with longtime brewer Kenny Cates at the helm. Commune will also continue to pop-up at events across the Bay area.
Get Along, the doughnut company Davis co-founded with Asher Lakes and Marie Cullinan will continue to operate out of its Seminole Heights space and is still on track to open its cafe. The doughnuts will also still be a presence at Pickford’s as well as its own Get Along pop-ups across Tampa Bay.
Davis, who’s personally changing addresses and moving to Utah this summer, told CL the decision to close Union is purely business based on the margins associated with a multi-roaster coffee operation paying its employees a living wage and buying coffee from vendors who actually treat coffee growers like people who deserve to be able to feed their families.
“It’s kept me up for seven months,” Davis explained, adding that he pays between $11-$14 a pound for the coffee Union serves. “Buying the kind of coffee we do and selling it to customers at the price we do makes for an unsustainable model when you don’t have a proprietary kitchen to help offset coffee margins.”
Davis’ move puts the coffee program at Pickford’s in the hands of Hansen—who previously ran a coffee shop out of his Seminole Heights Urban Bungalow space—and two of Tampa Bay’s brightest culinary figures in chefs Pomales and Siller.
“Since they joined us in the big pink building, Union has played an integral part in helping Pickford’s Counter become what it is today and helped us change for the better,” Pickford’s wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to @iamthejoel for being a true trailblazer and the beaming example of what it is to be an authentic, caring leader, business owner and friend.”
Hansen—also a proponent of paying his employees a living wage—told CL the handoff from Union to Pickford’s will be seamless and that folks who show up this Sunday will see the same products.
On Tuesday morning at Pickford’s, with friends popping in and out to say goodbye to Davis on his last shift, you got the sense that while Union is on its way out, Davis’ sprit would still permeate in the building and especially throughout the community he’s been caffinating since 2014.
“I’ll be in and out of Tampa,” Davis said. “Get Along is on track, Commune+Co. is still here, and my family is here.”
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This article appears in May 20-26, 2021.