The Junkman’s Daughter owner Moss Mills and partner Ashley Saunders are opening a coffee, dessert, and gift shop in Virginia-Highland. Called Ash Coffee, it will replace Blabla Kids on the corner of Virginia Avenue and Rosedale Drive, in a primarily residential section of the neighborhood. Slated to open in July, it will serve traditional coffee drinks, as well as Asian-inspired beverages, baked goods, and more.
“Junkman’s Daughter is very tourist driven. This has a neighborhood feel,” says Mills, who took over the alternative apparel and gift shop in Little 5 Points from his mother in 2016. Since then, he’s focused on modernizing the offerings to include framed artwork, houseplants, and puzzles. When Ash Coffee opens, Mills will bring in some of the Junkman’s favorite items, along with new, higher-priced goods. “I think people come to Junkman’s for what we pull together in one location,” he says. “This will be a cherry-picked version of what we sell there.” Expect journals, framed art, plants in vintage planters, tote bags, games, and leather goods, as well as coffee beans and greeting cards.
Saunders, who brings experience working in coffee shops, is developing the beverage program featuring espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, and more made with Tanbrown Coffee, a local, Asian American-owned company. Since Saunders is half Filipino, it is important to her to feature Asian-inspired coffee drinks, too. Inspired by a trip she and Mills took to Vietnam, the shop will offer Vietnamese iced coffee and egg coffee (which she stresses is more of a dessert than a beverage.)
There will also be tea, a small selection of premade salads and sandwiches, plus breads, croissants, cookies, brownies, cakes, and pies. All will be sourced from local companies. “We want to pull together a little bit of the best from as many places as possible,” Mills says.
Designed with a vintage and industrial feel, Ash Coffee will have 20-foot ceilings, a turntable for vinyl, lounge seating in back, and an old-school chalkboard menu. It will stay open until 10 p.m. on weekends.
