S P O T L I G H T
CONNECTIONS By Peter Viele • Photography by Allison Potter
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connection helped us do that. Midway through
the first summer, we decided to bring food in
and what made a mark was our avocado toast
that wasn’t available around here at the time. We
brought that back from our time in Australia.”
The location of their second shop, in
Autumn Hall in Wilmington, was driven by
demographics.
“We needed to come to a year-round mar-ket,
which is much easier than a seasonal one,”
Michael says.
Their third location in just five years is in
Mayfaire. It’s a prime spot, with correspond-ingly
higher costs. The brothers believe the
following for Drift is healthy enough to make it
sustainable.
“We would have to be 30 percent slower here
than Autumn Hall to get into trouble,” Michael
says. “This is a big step for us as the rent is much
higher, but that’s why everything we do is focused
on trying to add value to our guests to make sure
they have a great experience so they return. We’ve
also had to be really mindful of food cost.”
The Powells only pay themselves a marginal
amount to take care of their personal needs in
order to reinvest back into Drift and to not incur
any debt. Leasing their locations has provided a
fiscally nimble position as well.
The brothers see more opportunity ahead.
“This is still a fragile business but the drive to
want to share this experience with more people
and locations is there,” Ben says.
Brothers Michael (left) and Ben Powell sit for a
spell in Drift Coffee and Kitchen, Mayfaire, their
third location.
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