The shop opening in the Shops at Wintergreen will offer signature spiked coffee, cocktails and food, including vegan options.
By Tyler Carter
An upscale coffee shop, Heritage Coffee Lounge, is coming to DeSoto.
Tara McDaniel, a Dallas native who co-owns Soiree Coffee Bar in Trinity Groves, said the idea for the new lounge was sparked by a need to create jobs and enhance and grow Black communities, she said in an interview.
DeSoto’s progressive and aggressive mind-set toward economic development led McDaniel to believe the community was the right one for this opportunity.
“When I found out the vision of DeSoto was to hone in on economic development, I knew this was a great market opportunity for an upscale coffee shop,” she said.
McDaniel described the city’s five-year growth plan as “insane” and a hub where creatives and entrepreneurs could congregate and network.
“The beauty of opening in DeSoto is that we are not far from the major highways and that we have on-site parking,” she said. “City leadership has been very helpful and I encourage retailers, entrepreneurs or restaurateurs to really look at the market opportunity in DeSoto.”
The lounge is set to open mid-September in the new Shops at Wintergreen development located near Wintergreen and Cockrell Hill Road, McDaniel said, which is where Kendall Karsen’s Upscale Soulfood is opening a second location.
For McDaniel, the death of George Floyd in May 2020 served as a call to action because racial tensions were at an all-time high. It inspired her to create the Facebook group Buy Black National and open Soiree during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for like-minded individuals to influence economic growth within the Black community.
“The Black community needed a beacon of light and somewhere to gather to rebuild a sense of camaraderie,” she said.
“For me, I knew that racism stemmed from money … so I was like, we can create our own monetary protest and drive sales to Black-owned businesses,” she continued.
Heritage and other Black-owned businesses serve as qualifiers for a predominantly black community such as DeSoto, which she likened to Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Okla. The
community was known for its affluent Black population until a white mob bombed the area, causing as many as 300 deaths, historians believe.
“DeSoto to me is literally a resemblance of the modern-day Black Wall Street because it is a very affluent, predominantly Black community that is just very progressive, very warm and inviting,” McDaniel said.
The concept for Heritage, McDaniel said, is at the intersection of mid-century modern style and Hollywood glam, with artwork from Black artists.
Though it is a coffee lounge, customers can order spiked coffee, cocktails and a “Southern New Generation” food menu that has yet to be unveiled, but will include vegan options from Peace, Love & Eatz, a DeSoto smoothie bar. Brunch will be served on weekends, and local artists will play live music.
The lounge will also have a private room customers can book during the week for meetings or on weekends for private dining.
