City, Shopping May 23, 2011
Church Street Coffee and Books

Photo illustration courtesy Church Street Coffee and Books

Church Street Coffee and Books will open in June in the former Starbucks
location in Crestline Village.

Goodbye, Starbucks location. Hello, local coffee shop and bookstore.

Cal Morris, Carrie RollwagenMountain Brook’s Crestline Village will have a new hangout come late June, Magic City Post has learned. Co-owners Cal Morris and Carrie Rollwagen, shown at left, will open Church Street Coffee and Books in the former Starbucks location, which closed Sunday.

“We think it’s important for a local coffee shop to open in that space because the neighborhood demands it,” Rollwagen said by email. “We actually got the idea for opening from our customers at Starbucks. We’ve built real relationships with them, and neither of us want to let those go.”

Rollwagen and Morris plan to offer Birmingham’s Primavera Coffee, as well as all-natural pastries — some sweet, some savory — from pastry chef Heather Morris, who previously supplied the former Highland Coffee Company.

A limited selection of books will be available, including best sellers, classics, beach reads, children’s literature and staff picks. (The pair plan to add e-books by December). Free wi-fi will also be on hand.

“This is a community that has always supported their local bookstores,” she said, “and I still hear several times a week that (shoppers) miss Jonathan Benton Bookseller,” where she previously worked as manager of the former Mountain Brook Village store.

Rollwagen is a copywriter and social media editor at Birmingham-based Willow House and creator of the blog Shop Small; she also worked as a barista at the Crestline Starbucks. Morris served as manager of that location for the past 8 years. The two friends have been planning their venture since the Seattle-based chain announced the closing in January.

The opening is planned for between June 15 and June 30. Church Street Coffee and Books, 81 Church St., Mountain Brook [map], will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Update June 29: Carrie Rollwagen says the grand opening will be Tuesday.

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