Zach Archibald, left, and Vance Dunn of Surrounding Counties. (Jack Jacobs photo)
After closing down late last year, local café Surrounding Counties has brewed up a comeback in a new space with the help of a new ownership group.
The coffee shop reopened last month in the Village Shopping Center in Henrico, a couple miles east on Three Chopt Road from its original location near Freeman High, where it had operated for its first four years in business.
Founder Zach Archibald said Surrounding Counties has made several changes in its latest iteration. It intentionally picked a smaller spot than the previous location as a cost-saving measure. It also streamlined its menu to focus on coffee and kolaches, a style of Czech pastry that has become the shop’s calling card.
“That helps keep the overhead lower so we could refine the concept to come up with a version of our offerings that meet the quality expectations,” founder Zach Archibald said. “We subtracted 70 percent of the menu to focus on kolaches.”
Another change is that Archibald is no longer the business’s owner. Surrounding Counties is now owned by Jeff Rock, founder of local software developer Mobelux; Vance Dunn, who helped launch Baltik’s Bagel in Forest Hill and formerly worked for Chewy’s Bagels in Carytown; and Archibald’s mother, Joan Lewis.
Archibald continues to work as the shop’s manager and public face in an arrangement he said puts the business in a better financial position.
Archibald, who also co-founded and until recently was a co-owner of Lamplighter Coffee Roasters, said that while he had the social connections needed for business, the financial side was more of a challenge. He likened his decision to sell the company to the trend of private equity firms buying up businesses with the aim of improving them with greater access to resources.
“I was rich in social capitalism but I wasn’t rich in traditional capitalism terms. By trading that title of owner to people who could give the business a stronger foundation, it would get me to actually earn a living by doing the job,” Archibald said. “I want to be on a team, I don’t have to own the team.”
He said a desire for a better work-life balance also motivated the decision to take on a different role, one where he wasn’t kept up at night worrying about every aspect of the business as was the case when he was a sole owner.
“They were all willing to come on board and share the load,” Archibald said. “ I’m still doing just as much work, but the cool thing is at night, laying in bed totally exhausted, I can fall asleep.”
Archibald met Rock and Dunn through the original Surrounding Counties location. Rock and his wife were regular customers, and Dunn’s son was one of Archibald’s employees.
Surrounding Counties’ new shop is in the nearly 600-square-foot space at 7019 Three Chopt Road Unit 15, which is in The Village’s breezeway. Archibald estimated the shop’s reopening costs at under $20,000. He said Surrounding Counties benefits from other activity at the center and has become a pitstop for people visiting the center’s Publix anchor and other stores.
“At our old location you pulled into our parking lot to see us,” he said. “Here, people add us as an addition to the trip they were already making.”
Other tenants include CVS and restaurants Bell Greek and Toast. The Surrounding Counties space was formerly occupied by Ginger Juice, which moved out in 2017 to a larger space at the center.
The cafe has a limited amount of indoor and outdoor seating. It is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Its kolaches in a variety of savory styles sell for $7 apiece, three for $18 and six for $30. Archibald said the shop also planned this week to introduce bagels and matcha tea. Surrounding Counties buys its coffee from Proud Mary Coffee, an Australian company with cafes in Oregon and Texas.
Looking ahead, Archibald said Surrounding Counties is interested in opening multiple locations, and is early in the search for additional spots around town.
Zach Archibald, left, and Vance Dunn of Surrounding Counties. (Jack Jacobs photo)
After closing down late last year, local café Surrounding Counties has brewed up a comeback in a new space with the help of a new ownership group.
The coffee shop reopened last month in the Village Shopping Center in Henrico, a couple miles east on Three Chopt Road from its original location near Freeman High, where it had operated for its first four years in business.
Founder Zach Archibald said Surrounding Counties has made several changes in its latest iteration. It intentionally picked a smaller spot than the previous location as a cost-saving measure. It also streamlined its menu to focus on coffee and kolaches, a style of Czech pastry that has become the shop’s calling card.
“That helps keep the overhead lower so we could refine the concept to come up with a version of our offerings that meet the quality expectations,” founder Zach Archibald said. “We subtracted 70 percent of the menu to focus on kolaches.”
Another change is that Archibald is no longer the business’s owner. Surrounding Counties is now owned by Jeff Rock, founder of local software developer Mobelux; Vance Dunn, who helped launch Baltik’s Bagel in Forest Hill and formerly worked for Chewy’s Bagels in Carytown; and Archibald’s mother, Joan Lewis.
Archibald continues to work as the shop’s manager and public face in an arrangement he said puts the business in a better financial position.
Archibald, who also co-founded and until recently was a co-owner of Lamplighter Coffee Roasters, said that while he had the social connections needed for business, the financial side was more of a challenge. He likened his decision to sell the company to the trend of private equity firms buying up businesses with the aim of improving them with greater access to resources.
“I was rich in social capitalism but I wasn’t rich in traditional capitalism terms. By trading that title of owner to people who could give the business a stronger foundation, it would get me to actually earn a living by doing the job,” Archibald said. “I want to be on a team, I don’t have to own the team.”
He said a desire for a better work-life balance also motivated the decision to take on a different role, one where he wasn’t kept up at night worrying about every aspect of the business as was the case when he was a sole owner.
“They were all willing to come on board and share the load,” Archibald said. “ I’m still doing just as much work, but the cool thing is at night, laying in bed totally exhausted, I can fall asleep.”
Archibald met Rock and Dunn through the original Surrounding Counties location. Rock and his wife were regular customers, and Dunn’s son was one of Archibald’s employees.
Surrounding Counties’ new shop is in the nearly 600-square-foot space at 7019 Three Chopt Road Unit 15, which is in The Village’s breezeway. Archibald estimated the shop’s reopening costs at under $20,000. He said Surrounding Counties benefits from other activity at the center and has become a pitstop for people visiting the center’s Publix anchor and other stores.
“At our old location you pulled into our parking lot to see us,” he said. “Here, people add us as an addition to the trip they were already making.”
Other tenants include CVS and restaurants Bell Greek and Toast. The Surrounding Counties space was formerly occupied by Ginger Juice, which moved out in 2017 to a larger space at the center.
The cafe has a limited amount of indoor and outdoor seating. It is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Its kolaches in a variety of savory styles sell for $7 apiece, three for $18 and six for $30. Archibald said the shop also planned this week to introduce bagels and matcha tea. Surrounding Counties buys its coffee from Proud Mary Coffee, an Australian company with cafes in Oregon and Texas.
Looking ahead, Archibald said Surrounding Counties is interested in opening multiple locations, and is early in the search for additional spots around town.
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Congrats! I’ve stopped by the new location a few times and it seems like they are off to a great start
So glad they re-opened, and looks like they might find a niche using up tiny spaces no one else is able to use.
Never had kolaches – looks like i might have to!
Love it! We’ve been long time customers of Surrounding Counties and were so sad to hear that they were closing – it’s no surprise to me though that other folks who love this business banded together to keep it going. That’s the vibe they cultivate here; truly one of my favourite spots in RVA.
That spot has always needed a good coffee shop. Awesome news.
Kolaches are not to be missed. Can’t wait to try this place. I am kind of curious why they don’t sell coffee from a local, RVA-based roaster, but I’m sure there’s a solid reason.
With Jeff Rock joining the team, there’s no doubt this is going to be a success. Congrats to everyone involved!