The new brew: How Cayce’s Piecewise Coffee is expanding to Columbia sooner than expected
Timing is a funny thing.
Last fall, twin brothers Jacob and Zach Kirby, who have owned Piecewise Coffee Co. at 2001 State St. in Cayce for about a year and a half, went on a vacation, one they billed as sort of a business planning retreat. One of the takeaways of that retreat was a goal to open a second Piecewise shop. Their hope was to identify that second location and have it open by the end of 2024.
As it turns out, the timetable for a new storefront came a bit sooner.
Piecewise Coffee Co. is set to open a Columbia shop at 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, at 2824 Devine St. That’s in the spot that was, until recently, Blūm Coffee. The Kirby brothers bought the shop from Blūm owner Fran Knudsen, formally closing the deal on Jan. 15. Knudsen continues to operate a Blūm shop in Charleston.
What has followed is a sprint to convert the Devine Street shop into a Piecewise ahead of Monday’s opening.
“We’re doing a little bit of painting, a little bit of wallpapering, a little bit of decorating,” Jacob Kirby told The State. “Not much, though. It’s a beautiful space. We are kind of Piecewisefying it.”
The work to get the Devine Street location ready has even looped in other members of the Kirby family. Jacob said his mother, Susan, has been sewing some curtains for the new shop.
The Piecewise location in Cayce was filled to near capacity when a reporter stopped by for a recent conversation. The familiar hissing of coffee apparatus and the unmistakable aroma of hot caffeinated confections filled the air as a tapestry of customers — moms with fidgety young kids, college students toiling away at homework, businessmen in golf shirts and tasseled loafers — lined the tables in the main shop and the adjoining space that has been dubbed the Mail Room.
It was a scene that has become more and more commonplace since Piecewise initially opened in Cayce in 2019. The Kirby brothers, 29, bought the business in the fall of 2022, and its popularity has continued to surge. Last November, readers of The State voted it their favorite local coffee shop a poll on the newspaper’s website, with Piecewise receiving more than 12,000 votes.
The Kirbys had been considering the idea of expansion for a while. The essential question centered on where that would be and how to make it work.
“We were trying to identify pockets of town that didn’t have a local (coffee) option in proximity to themselves,” Jacob Kirby said. “We were just having a conversation of, ‘If we could do this again, would we?’ Then somewhere along the way had the conversation, ‘Well, maybe we don’t have to start from scratch. Maybe we can find out if anyone else is interested in slowing down.’”
A short time later, the opportunity presented itself to move into the Blūm space on Devine and turn it into a new Piecewise. The employees at Blūm were offered the opportunity to stay and continue on with Piecewise.
From a food and drink standpoint, customers will find the Devine Street shop much like the Cayce spot. Methodical Coffee out of Greenville will still be its coffee supplier, and JJ’s Place will be the shop’s baking partner, supplying pastries, bagels and other treats.
Jacob Kirby said he expects the Devine Street shop, located on a bustling main thoroughfare near Five Points and downtown Columbia, could have a different vibe than the Cayce location, as he expects they will see both business professional and neighborhood customers.
“(Cayce) is the type of place for people to come and gather with friends and family for a long time, or do homework for a long time,” he said. “It seems like Devine is going to be a little more corporate, but not in a bad way. People popping in for a one-on-one or a quick meeting or catching up with a friend. We will be in a pretty historic neighborhood there. It’s recognizing we are part of a business corridor and we are a part of an historic neighborhood for the city of Columbia.”
One difference between the Cayce shop and the Devine Street shop will be that Devine Street will be open on Sundays. The hours at both shops will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Devine Street shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, while the Cayce Piecewise is closed Sundays.
Community has always been central to what Piecewise is all about, Jacob Kirby said, and expanding into Columbia means a lot to the brothers.
“We just love feeling like we are a part of contributing to the community and culture that Columbia is becoming to look like,” Jacob said. “We grew up here. Columbia has changed so much in the last 10 years, and for us to feel like we have a thread in that tapestry is really exciting. We are a part, in a really small way, of what Columbia is becoming in the long term.”
