This past weekend, a new coffee shop had their first pop-up event in downtown Jackson. The event was a soft launch for Turntable Coffee Counter owned by Lauren and Anthony Kirk. Several other small business owners participated, including Union’s Ashley Akerson.
A Union alum and ceramic artist, Akerson is the Residence Director of the Heritage dorms on campus. She sold her pottery at the pop-up and was hosted by Light Trap Books.
“It was a really sweet morning,” Akerson said. “People from all different circles came out; there was a line outside the building.”
Akerson said that Turntable is including local artists and businesses in their venture. The shop is partnering with suppliers in the West and Middle Tennessee areas for all of their coffee, tea, syrup and baked goods.
This local mindset can be found in everything Turntable does, right down to their name. The record turntable is a nod to Jackson’s music heritage, specifically the Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame. A turntable is also a device that rotates trains, which is a nod to Casey Jones and the train station that used to be downtown.
“We wanted to give Jackson something that was uniquely theirs,” Kirk said.
The turntable is also a symbol to Kirk of Jackson being at a turning point as a town. He’s lived here since he was three and has been a barista for 12 years, both at Green Frog Coffee Company and Starbucks. Part of the reason he has been in the coffee business so long is for the giving of community and a place to gather.
He said that at some point, you want to take what you’ve learned, do it on your own and do it differently. Kirk hopes Turntable can be a consistent presence downtown; the place where people go to have fun and hard conversations.
Turntable doesn’t have a set opening date yet (they’re waiting on their expresso machine to arrive from Italy), but they will be doing another pop-up event this Saturday, Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I shed many tears on Saturday watching them succeed,” Akerson said.
