Alex Lowe and Dave Dobbins of Mugshot Coffee. (Jack Jacobs photo)
A coffee shop that wants to set itself apart from competitors with souvenir photos is up and running in Chesterfield.
Mugshot Coffee opened this week at 3505 Courthouse Road, near Rockwood Park.
With plans for a portrait-taking station and arcade, Mugshot co-owner Dave Dobbins said he is trying to create a unique café experience he hopes will attract customers and create a community gathering place.
“I feel like everyone’s kind of cookie-cutter with their coffee shops,” he said. “We wanted comfortable seating and a place to hang out.”
The café leases a 2,800-square-foot storefront in the Rockwood Plaza shopping center. It has seating for more than 40 people in addition to a handful of outdoor tables.
Dobbins said the “amusement portraiture” concept takes a page from tourist-focused businesses that allow customers to dress up in old-timey clothing and get their photos taken as souvenirs.
The portrait-taking side of the business was expected to be operational in time for a grand opening event Saturday. It’ll have a jailhouse theme with prop booking signs that customers can pose with. Initially the café will sell mugs printed with the photos taken by customers, and Dobbins said he wants to add other items like shirts and flags in the future.
Mugshot also plans to add a few arcade machines in the back of the space to further encourage people to think about the business as a place to hang out.
Dobbins owns the business with Alex Lowe. The pair have backgrounds in the restaurant business, in addition to being amateur photographers.
Mugshot’s menu features a variety of coffee drinks as well as breakfast burritos and baked goods. Its coffee is roasted by New Kent-based Bugle Call Coffee.
Among Mugshot’s food items is the café’s take on the croisookie, a hybrid croissant-and-cookie treat it hopes will become its signature.
“It’s buttery, sweet, savory. It’s a good combo and a fun little novelty,” Lowe said.
Dobbins said the cost to open the café was a nearly six-figure investment.
Mugshot previously planned to open at Chesterfield Towne Center. Dobbin said those plans fell through because he didn’t like the profit-sharing arrangement that would have been in place with the mall. The mall space Mugshot planned to occupy had been a Jimmy John’s, which still has a lease on the space, and Dobbins said he also felt that the sublease rate was too high.
“There were too many things in the lease we weren’t comfortable with. That’s why we didn’t move forward with that,” he said.
So after a hunt for a new location, Mugshot landed in Rockwood Plaza because Dobbins felt there was space in the area for a locally owned coffee shop.
“We wanted to be in an area where there isn’t a lot of mom-and-pops,” he said. “I’m not in this to take customers from another company, I’m just here to give an alternative.”
Mugshot moved into space that had been occupied by Baker’s Kitchen for years. Allan Sharrett and Andy Walsh of SugarOak handled lease negotiations on behalf of the landlord.
Mugshot is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
In other local coffee moves, Shockoe Bottom-based Whisk is preparing to open a café in the Library of Virginia. Henrico café Surrounding Counties announced plans to close this month after four years in business.