Update: King of Clubs Brewing Company opened at the Premium Outlet Mall in Williamsburg on Friday March 21, 2019. A copy of the ABC license can be found here.
The second part of the application can be found here.
The Virginia ABC notice can be found here and here.
Original story: When shopping at Premium Outlets, guests can expect a variety of retail options and quick bites. But now, they can also expect a new experience.
“We want to be an oasis in this retail environment,” said Lance Zaal, owner of King of Clubs Brewing Company. “It’ll be a place where people can sit down, relax and have a cup of coffee.”
Zaal had been looking around for a physical location to open his business since the August 2018 before landing on the store in the mall. His coffee business has gained popularity online with products like the nitro brew coffee and, most recently, a coffee infused with CBD oil.
Settling on the location in the outlets has made Zaal’s creativity grow because he said he wants to offer something entirely different in a retail setting. Now, he has decided to add coffee-themed cocktails to his menu.
“I’m a mixed drink person and I think that’s a lost art in Williamsburg,” he said. “There are only a couple of places where you can get a really good mixed drink.”
Drinks will include items like White Russians or espresso martinis.
Products sold in the location will use local alcohols, such as rye whiskey from Copper Fox Distillery, which Zaal said will help build the company’s community connection while supporting other local businesses.
The store will be a few doors down from where the satellite location of Alewerks. Zaal said being in a retail location helps give the business a different feel than a regular coffee shop. The floor layout is designed to pitch customers’ products, such as apparel, while also inviting them to sit and stay a while.
“When people drink our coffee I don’t want them to think they’re just drinking coffee,” he said. “I want them to have an experience.”
One of the unique aspects Zaal is excited about is that the site will be a place where people can get freshly ground coffee exactly the way they want. He said a customer can come in and buy coffee that is already packaged or they can pick a type of bean to be roasted exactly to their liking.
In addition to coffee, the store will sell kombucha and jun drinks. The company’s first batch of jun was made with honey from the Silver Hand Meadery and this is a partnership that Zaal hopes to continue in the future.
To add to the experience, Zaal said he plans to offer coffee classes where people can learn about making coffee. He said these will be sessions of about 45 minutes where people can learn about flavor, sourcing and history of the different brews.
The products will be made at a facility off-site, where the company can house their San Fransican coffee roaster and walk-in fridge.
But that’s not all Zaal wants to do with the facility.
“I’ve always wanted to create a speakeasy,” he said. “In our main area we will make it into a speakeasy at night, really create something different in the area.”
The production facility does not have an official location yet, he said, but he hopes to secure a place in Williamsburg.
On April 7, Zaal is planning to have a soft opening celebration to invite the public to experience his new storefront from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
