Advocate magazine photo.
Something is always brewing at White Rock Coffee, the java-roasting empire that started in 2005 at Northwest Highway and Ferndale.
The WRC team is gearing up to open its fifth location (if you count the drive-thru only on Mockingbird at Abrams and do not count the barista training center near to the original shop). Owners Nancy and Robert Baker also own three additional operations in Lake Highlands — a commercial bakery, a commercial roaster and a warehouse, we reported a few years ago. (These are not open to the public, but Nancy at the time suggested she could conceive of an eventual catering arm, a thing we’ll follow up on for future reporting)
The latest WRC location, 6715 Hillcrest in Snider Plaza, replacing the old Pearl Cup, is set to open soon. While there’s no grand opening date set, a soft opening is expected on August 29, according to a spokesperson.
Lakewood and Lake Highlands residents might recall a time in 2017 when a Starbucks, whose coffee shop locations number in the 25,000 range worldwide, opened at the corner of Northwest Highway and Ferndale, which bothered many WRC fans, but which also resulted in a blossoming of the WRC cult (proud member here).
By Jessica Turner
At the time Nancy told us that, while it would be disingenuous to blow it off or say she isn’t bothered by a “large, deep-pocket chain going in two doors down,” she had confidence in our neighborhood’s loyalty. “You’ve seen the comments,” she said, “and we just cannot put into words what that [love] means to us.” That confidence clearly was well placed.
While we wrote in 2017 about Starbucks moving in on WRC turf, well, well, well, how the tables have turned.
For as SMU grads are well aware, Starbucks has a longstanding Snider Plaza location.
In our last story Nancy said she and Bob we “in expansion mode.” And boy she was not kidding. Another location at Rosewood Court is supposed to open soon too.
Sidenote: Check out our Preston Hollow Lifestyle story about “delicore,” the latest fashion trend. WRC plays a role.
