Business

Cafe will soon complement new Ecusta Market

Emily, holding 1-year-old Marigold, and Robert Gunn, stand next to the Ecusta Trail, which the couple believes will channel visitors to their new market and café.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 14, 2024

Shoppers at the Ecusta Market pushing buggies filled with locally sourced baked goods and produce and meat mingle with spandexed trail users picking up grab-and-go snacks, pausing for a cup of coffee or chillin’ over a pint.

That’s the not-too-distant vision of Emily and Robert Gunn, an energetic young couple who are the latest entrepreneurs to transform Lennox Station on South Whitted Street into a small empire of food and beverage options in an inviting and ever-expanding social space. In addition to Trailside Brewing Co., the former Presto Framing Arts building is home to The Grove, a cocktail lounge and event space.  

Emily and Robert spent their early careers in the food service and restaurant business in Asheville before migrating to Hendersonville three years ago.

“This will all be Underground Bakery, City Bakery, several different cheese makers, meat, eggs, produce, dairy,” Robert said as he led me a tour of the shop before it opened. “We have our trail-facing side and we have our parking lot facing side.”

He sees two customer bases blending in a space that offers staples and fresh food for regular grocery shoppers and a quick snack or sit-down meal for the casual visitor.

The Ecusta Market at Lennox Station is open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.“You can do a normal shopping trip here and not feel like you’re breaking the bank,” he said. “And you can spend your money on the local stuff that you care about.”

Browsing the shelves at Ecusta Market it’s impossible not to think of the Fresh Market, which is closed while under repair from Helene’s catastrophic south gateway flooding. The Gunns’ store is a little like the Hendersonville Co-Op as well, with ample natural and organic specialties.

The side-by-side spaces cover 5,000 square feet separated by a common 1,000-square foot entry vestibule. The couple expects to open the café in February.

“It’ll be breakfast and lunch counter service to start,” Robert said. “We’ll have a breakfast sandwich, probably a breakfast burrito and a standard egg, toast, bacon plate.” They’ll serve sandwiches and entree salads at lunchtime and cheeseboards and chicken wings at night.

“It’s a restaurant but it’s also definitely a coffee place,” Robert said. “We’ll have a great espresso maker and a full coffee program. It’s a coffee shop vibe with a café offering.”

Emily envisions a welcoming space that serves a variety of customers.

“You could feel just as comfortable if you come in to get a cup of coffee and read a book or if you come in and have lunch with your whole family,” she said.

Robert added: “Because we have the market, we’re gonna have a whole prepared food program running. Evening shifts in the kitchen, they’ll be making food to sell in the café.”

Buying from the market to consume in the café thus becomes another option. The café will pour beverages from six taps, most likely four craft beers, a cold-brew coffee and a non-alcohol cocktail. It’ll have a large outdoor patio facing the greenway and, thanks to a $13,000 grant from the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, a playground for kids.

‘Core value is gratitude’

The couple has plenty to do besides birthing and nurturing the new market and dining spot. They have an arm baby, knee baby and a pre-schooler. The day I visited, Emily was toting Marigold, who just turned 1 and goes by Goldie.

“We have a 2½-year-old named Magnolia, and we have an older one that’s 5 named Maple, so we have a little theme going on,” Robert said. They plan to homeschool the girls.

Hours of the market are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, so the couple had to hire lots of retail help.

“Some was word of mouth, through our website, social media, and Indeed,” Emily said. “We got really lucky. We had too many wonderful people. We actually had not hired some folks that we wanted to bring on.”

She and Robert believe the market’s success hinges on getting the right people to run it.

“Very, very, very few if any with actual grocery retail experience,” Emily said of her new hires. “But we can teach that. We can’t teach great customer service. Our No. 1 core value at Ecusta Market is gratitude. Our customers can spend their money anywhere and they’re coming in and they’re spending their money with us.”

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The Ecusta Market, at 877 Lennox Park Drive, is open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Call 828-595-3483 or visit ecustamarketandcafe.com for information.