New Mayorga location to open in Takoma Park

Mayorga Coffee Factory is planning to launch a new location at 314 Carroll St. N.W. in Takoma Park on Jan. 25. Mayorga Coffee President Martin Mayorga decided to open the new store to compensate for closing the Silver Spring location on Dec. 31.

The company considered other areas in Silver Spring for the new shop's location before ultimately deciding on the Carroll St. site, once home to The Drifting Nomad, a restaurant serving sandwiches and baked goods. The prospect of increased business from passersby convinced Mayorga to open the shop in Takoma Park. "We really like the site," Mayorga said. "It's very accessible, has a lot of foot traffic and is more dependent on the walk-by community."

Mayorga stressed that having the shop in a location where people will see it as they walk by is critical to Mayorga Coffee's sales. One reason the Silver Spring shop shut down was because its partially obscured location was unfriendly to pedestrian traffic. The Silver Spring location saw a 50 percent drop in business since construction on a sidewalk and new connecting road to Georgia Avenue began on Blair Mill Road early last year. Mayorga had been in this location since 2003, regularly hosting poetry slams and music performances.

Management at the new branch will hire several individuals who were previously employed at the Silver Spring location and will also look to obtain new employees. Beyond the new Takoma Park location, Mayorga hopes to expand his business to other states in response to the shop's recent growth in popularity.

Mayorga is optimistic about the new shop opening in Takoma Park. "We thought that would be a good place to go," he said. "The consumer base is there for us."