Spring Garden coffeehouse expands into High Point

PHOTO: Manager Luke Whitten and barrista Michaela Hicks

Spring Garden Bakery & Coffee House, a popular Greensboro hangout, has expanded to a second location in High Point.

The High Point location officially opened on Aug. 12 in the space formerly occupied by Jumoka Café & Bakery at the Oak Hollow Village shopping center on Eastchester Drive near Laurel University.

Luke Whitten, the former owner of the defunct Greensborough Coffee, is managing the new High Point coffeehouse. Whitten said that Pepper Moon Catering of Greensboro purchased the coffeehouse from a partnership that included the local franchisee of Barberito’s, which is next door.

Whitten had known Melissa Michos, who manages the bakery in Greensboro, through his involvement in the coffee business. He was buying a muffin when Michos asked him if he would be interested in managing a coffee house.

“I was working at Whole Foods at the time,” Whitten recalled. “I gave it some thought. I’d done Whole Foods for a couple years. That corporate retail gets stale.”

A Thomasville native, Whitten started working at Carolina Coffee & Tea on State Street in Greensboro at the age of 22. When that store closed, David Craft, chairman of the board of Craft Insurance, offered to finance Whitten so he could go into business for himself. Greensborough Coffee stayed open for two years and closed in 2011. Whitten said running his own business was an invaluable experience and he’s grateful to Craft for the opportunity, but he didn’t have the experience or adequate financing to succeed.

The new Spring Garden Bakery & Coffee House in High Point has already added lunch items from Pepper Moon Catering, and Whitten said he hopes to “step up our coffee game with some fancy espresso drinks.”

For now, the coffeehouse is open Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., but at some point Whitten said he can imagine expanding store hours into the evening and getting licensed to sell craft beer and fine wine.