Annapolis-based Ceremony Coffee Roasters is expanding with a second Baltimore location.
The coffee company will open a shop at the Exelon Building at Harbor Point this winter, with a projected opening in January, according to Ceremony founder and president Vincent Iatesta.
Ceremony Coffee Roasters opened its first Baltimore outpost, a 3,100-square-foot location in Mount Vernon, in September. The shop includes a cafe, retail space and training "lab."
The new location at 1310 Point St., which The Baltimore Sun reported last week, will be 1,950 square feet. Iatesta said the Harbor Point location will have a design similar to Mount Vernon's, with a few key differences. While the shop will offer the same high-end coffee drinks as Ceremony's Mount Vernon location, it won't include a coffee lab, its retail "pro shop" selection will be smaller and it will carry grab-and-go foods.
The Ceremony Coffee team is still fleshing out the food menu for the Harbor Point shop, but Iatesta expects to offer items like salads, sandwiches and wraps for customers on the go.
"The mix will change slightly based on what customers are looking for," he said.
Iatesta said the company had been looking for another location and Harbor Point was the right fit, in part because it will have a strong mix of daytime workers and permanent residents.
"Geographically I think it works for us," he said. "We've been looking for something in the downtown area. That market is somewhat under-served — there's not really much kind of specialty coffee there."
He said Ceremony could open another Baltimore location, but no sites have been chosen yet. The coffee roaster is also looking to expand its wholesale business — which accounts for most of its sales — and adding retail locations helps strengthen the brand, he said.
The Harbor Point shop will seat about 75 guests and stay open until 9 p.m. — slightly later than its Mount Vernon counterpart. He hopes a warmer design welcomes guests in the evening (the Mount Vernon shop is white, bright and modern).
Ceremony Coffee Roasters is among a handful of retailers that have signed on to open at Harbor Point, including honeygrow, CorePower Yoga and West Elm.