This is it. Just the second to last day of the 2024 Build-Outs season. We’re going out with a bang, taking a closer look at the new Sightsee in Charleston, South Carolina, a city with an internationally famous food scene and a growing cafe culture that’s up to the challenge. This charming coffee bar is part gift shop, part coffee destination, and after earning some impressive accolades for their original cafe they’ve moved into a “dream space” here in 2024 that feels like a must-see… a must-Sightsee, if you will.
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
As told to Sprudge by Allyson Sutton.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Sightsee is part coffee shop, part travel- and surf-inspired retail store. By blending the energy and community of a cafe with the joy of product discovery, Sightsee offers an inviting experience that brings a sense of adventure to our customers’ daily lives. Most of the brands we carry are woman-owned, with a focus on quality and sustainability.
We started as a humble pop-up concept back in 2018, opened our first tiny 450-square-foot brick and mortar space (thanks to the help of a community-funded Kickstarter!) in the fall of 2019, survived (we think?…still processing) the pandemic, were named Food & Wine’s Best Coffee Shop in SC in 2021, and through a combination of hustle and serendipity, had the opportunity to move into a much bigger dream space that just opened in July of this year!
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Our new shop is located on the ground floor of a historic 1940s building that previously housed a neighborhood pharmacy and a beauty salon, but sadly sat empty for the last couple of decades. The super cool octagonal front windows give a view across the street to one of our favorite parks in Charleston: Hampton Park, which has a fascinating and inspiring history itself (look up the first-ever Memorial Day!). We wanted the space to feel bright and airy, unique and creative, and to honor its history by becoming a vibrant neighborhood hub and a space for folks to hang out, either inside or on our quiet patio out back.
What’s your approach to coffee?
A few years ago, we were chatting with Paula Lima who owns Abra Coffee Roasters (we had the pleasure of featuring her coffee in our guest roaster lineup at our old shop), and she described coffee as a miracle. The fact that against all odds—unpredictable weather, risk of fungus, bugs, difficult terrain, economic challenges—we get to enjoy delicious, unique, interesting coffees every day is absolutely wild! We’re the final link in a long chain of hard work, so we do our best to maintain that level of dedication and diligence in our shop, while also making the coffee experience approachable and fun so that everyone feels as excited to keep learning about and enjoying coffee as we do! As our friends at Brandywine Coffee Roasters say, “coffee is magic!”
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Our original shop was so tiny, that the mere fact that we can now fit a lowboy fridge and a dishwasher behind our bar is exciting to us, LOL! We’re still rockin’ with our La Marzocco Linea two-group, which our friend and local artist Johnathan Rypkema customized with beautiful panels made with reclaimed maple and repurposed skateboard decks. We’re also thrilled to continue working with Brandywine Coffee Roasters for our espresso program as well as our pour-over menu, which features exciting single origin coffees, rotated each month.
How is your project considering sustainability?
Renovation and construction projects inevitably create waste, but we did our best to work with local vendors and choose materials that were more environmentally-friendly. Our bar tile was made from natural clay and glazes, with minimal carbon footprint. We worked with brands like Schoolhouse for lighting and notNeutral for our glassware, both of which make their products in America with intentional manufacturing practices. We sourced a lot of secondhand and vintage items like rugs, mirrors, and display pieces as well. There are lots of other random things like choosing a closed-door merch fridge, LED bulbs only, natural cleaners, etc.!
Once open, we’ve continued our commitment to sustainability by using only compostable to-go wares, and composting almost all of our waste, including coffee filters/grounds and paper products. Our coffee roasting partners at Brandywine are also very thoughtful about environmental impact: all of our whole bean coffee for sale is packaged in compostable bags. And most of the brands we sell in the shop also consider sustainability, whether their products are made from recycled fibers, packaged in eco-friendly packaging… this is a huge factor for us when curating the shop!
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We were hoping to open in May 2024, but officially opened in mid-July!
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
This project was a community effort! Our friends and longtime Sightsee supporters, Eric Meckley and Cassie Bray, spearheaded the architectural design of the space and helped us think of everything from layout to creative design details to accessibility. Our other friend and wildly talented furniture maker Jesse Lowery handcrafted all of the cabinetry, shelving, and our stunning curved banquette seating. His craftsmanship is insane. We also worked with friend and local artist Johnathan Rypkema to create sculptural enclosures for our speaker system – they’ve become really special statement/conversational pieces and are beyond anything we could’ve imagined ourselves. Local welder Tyler Bennett handmade custom aluminum supports for our fitting room curtains—he literally welded on-site and we love how that corner has the feel of a pool cabana changing room. Additionally, longtime friend of Sightsee Gina Nagel did all of our tilework on the coffee bar—it is THE focal point of the shop and she crushed it.
Thank you!
Thank YOU! :)
Photos by Meredith Wiksell, used with permission
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
