Earthling Coffee Relocates from Candler to West Asheville This Spring

Earthling Coffee and Espresso is leaving its Candler home for a renovated one-room building at 1110 Patton Ave. in West Asheville, a move its owner says will transform the business even though the two addresses sit just four miles apart.

Brad Turner, the shop's new owner and self-styled "The Space Cowboy," is closing the Candler location at 867 Smokey Park Highway on March 15. A soft opening with limited hours and services at the Patton Avenue site begins March 28, with a grand debut on April 6. The building, which previously housed a granite supply business, is being renovated to include a wraparound drive-thru line. No interior service will be available at opening, though Turner is weighing the addition of a walk-up window and patio seating in the near future.

Turner sees Patton Avenue, which connects Smokey Park Highway to downtown and Leicester Highway, as a natural upgrade for catching commuter traffic. "Operationally, this is going to be a huge upgrade for what we're doing here," he said.

The relocation also carries a local-business dimension for Turner, who notes the new site will place Earthling among a long stretch of commercial properties where corporate chains hold considerable sway. "Asheville was super community, local-based and we've got a push of a lot of more corporate stuff here, but people are starting to see that and say, 'Hold on, let's make sure we're keeping things local.' It is critical for what Asheville stands for," he said.

Turner has revamped Earthling's menu to include in-house coffee roasts and products sourced from local partners. The company itself was founded by Jaimi and Chris Gunkel, who opened the original double drive-thru in 2019 with the goal of bringing hand-crafted, organic coffee to western North Carolina. A second location at Asheville Outlets followed in November 2021, where co-founder Chris Gunkel described an offering of all-organic espresso shots and lattes, eleven milk options including dairy-free selections, and a signature color-changing magic lemonade with what the company claims are over 5 million flavor combinations.

Turner, who is often spotted wearing a cowboy hat, has kept the space theme central to the brand as it heads to its new West Asheville home. The April 6 grand debut will mark the first full day of operations at 1110 Patton Ave.