The Waterfront Vancouver is getting its first coffee shop — a second location from Kafiex Roasters that will focus more on breakfast and brunch. It will also offer beer, wine and cocktails.
The new location will open at the southwest corner of RiverWest, 700 Waterfront Way, in early 2021, said Seidy Selivanow, co-owner of Kafiex (pronounced Coffee-x).
“Our plan has always been to have our second location at the Waterfront,” she said. “We are bringing specialty coffee, breakfast, brunch and desserts to the Waterfront.”
The new shop will hold about 60 people without COVID-19 restrictions, which will be adjusted according to state laws, Selivanow said. Among the new products available at the second location are exclusive coffees, an international brunch menu, plant-based items, desserts, wine, beer and cocktails, she said.
Selivanow and her husband, co-owner Matthew Selivanow, began roasting coffee beans as a hobby. They visited farms across the world to get their choice of beans to roast. After sharing their coffee with friends, they began selling at the Vancouver Farmers Market and then wholesale before opening their first brick-and-mortar shop at 720 Esther St. in 2018.
The Esther Street location’s coffee-lab theme and its interior, a modern-industrial style, will be reflected in the new RiverWest location.
“Since the building is LEED certified, which is an internationally recognized green building certification system, we wanted to make sure and uphold those standards in the design process, a modern industrial look with lots of wood, exposed concrete, and splashes of vibrant color,” said Seidy Selivanow.
Selivanow said the business has been in a state of change since the pandemic struck: it launched its first website at the beginning of March, and it now sells its coffee online. It also created a canned cold-brew product.
“It has made our business model more resilient,” she said. “The community has been incredibly supportive.”
