Inspiring Conversations with Tommy Priest of Coffee Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tommy Priest.  

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I graduated from Appalachian State University in 1993 with the intention of moving back to my adopted home, Winston-Salem, NC, to open a coffee shop. My college roommate from St. Paul, MN, was willing to move as well, and we both loved the ’90s coffee shop scene, culture, and of course, coffee. It was not meant to be, unfortunately… zoning problems, funding problems, it fell apart after several hundred hours of leg work… I was 23. Fast forward 13 years after a short career in experiential marketing, I still missed that experience of opening a coffee shop. That missed experience became reality in 2007 when an old friend I originally met at a coffee shop in the mid-90s co-owned a new shop and roaster. We started talking about drive-up coffee. There was nothing at that time, especially not local. You could get McD’s or BK’s “coffee,” but this was before they upped their coffee game to compete with SB. 

We became sister companies… I bought coffee from the new roaster, guided a new brand identity and logo redesign for them, shared their name for 10 years, and served up Winston-Salem’s first local drive-up coffee. 

Sorry this part of the story is a bit long, but its complexity leads to seven years into the business… A local fire at an apartment complex displaced several small children, and it tugged at my heart. A local news outlet and patrons, Camel City Dispatch, partnered with us to collect donations to re-home and help outfit the displaced families with new home furnishings. The outpouring filled a warehouse and not only outfitted the fire victims but several additional families impacted by unrelated traumas. Our customers and community members’ support showed me this was the path, a community-centered coffee shop focused on facilitating better outcomes for our friends and neighbors, regardless of the challenge and the complexities. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
So many obstacles… from the 2008 financial crisis changing purchasing habits, cut-throat competitors seeking our destruction, road closures changing traffic patterns, pandemic restrictions, and numerous life changes… But we’re still here. 16 years young and stronger than ever! 

As you know, we’re big fans of Coffee Park. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Coffee Park, on the surface, appears to be a local, quirky coffee joint housed within a 1958 Airstream camper trailer. Patrons roll up to the service window in cars, bikes, buses, work trucks or they walk up after school or on a warm weekend morning to get caffeinated with locally roasted coffee or to grab an espresso brownie or a slice of pumpkin bread. 

You start to notice the nuances that spell out our brand identity when you swing by on the daily… No uniforms. Stickers promoting local businesses and events covering the aluminum shell. Baristas that talk to you without corporate slogans and jargon. A little free library filled with texts about racial justice, abolition, or literature. Metal sculptures, art pieces, and a random assortment of oddities surround and adorn the coffee trailer. 

But these things are just things. Our brand is bigger than things; Coffee Park provides experiences… Parking lot swing dances, punk rock birthday concerts, food truck events, charity food drives, domestic violence awareness events, community organizing, land preservation schemes… 

Coffee Park, as a brand, is a community catalyst that aims to uncover how we can all work together to create a more equitable and abundant future for our entire community. 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Coffee Park partnered with local musicians and artists to create the Virtual Village… A weekly, mobile live music performance that went from neighborhood to neighborhood to break the monotony of staying home during the peak of the pandemic. This taught me that we are closer as a community when we experience art together despite the communal suffering that Covid-19 brought us. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coffeeparkws.com
• Instagram: @coffeeparkairstream
• Facebook: @coffeeparkairstream
• Twitter: @CPAirstream

Image Credits
Tommy Priest