Revelator Coffee on King Street closed due to "store performance and sustainability"

Birmingham-based coffee shop and roaster Revelator opened their first S.C. location on King St. in Nov. 2016. With stark interiors, a limited menu, and minimal seating, the ‘less is more’ approach apparently didn’t attract enough passersby, even with a few hotels within walking distance — according to the Post and Courier, the coffee shop didn’t open their doors yesterday, Mon. April 29.

When reached for comment, Revelator’s director of brand strategy and marketing Meredith Singer says, “Revelator Coffee on Upper King has closed, effective April 29, 2019. We’re very proud of our team at this location. Our staff works incredibly hard, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure they have opportunities elsewhere. The decision to close is never easy, but this came down to store performance and sustainability.”

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As we wrote about this past March, surviving, let alone thriving, on King is no easy feat. There’s the staffing shortage, rising rents, and competition with deep-pocketed chains. A coffee shop not opening until 8 a.m. daily, with a bustling Starbucks right down the street? It’s perhaps not revelatory that the spot shuttered, but still sad. As writer Jessie Hazard asked in our caffeine cover story in Oct. 2017, “Can small batch roasts and the coffeehouses that sell them really make it through the shiny new phase and stay on Charleston’s coffee scene?”

Looking to skip the Upper King Sbux? Head to nearby local spots like Glazed, Kudu, The Daily, or Brown’s Court Bakery for a local cuppa.