Comfortable mountains — If strong coffee doesn't wake you up in the morning, the sight of a helicopter perched above a coffee shop might do the trick.
A Northeast Texas homebrewery is preparing to open a store in Mount Pleasant that pays homage to its name, Huey's Coffee.
A vintage Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter known as the “Huey” will be installed on the roof of the building. This will be his third location for the company, a small startup with operations across the region.
The first Huey's Coffee store opened in Gilmer in 2022, and the second in Pittsburgh in 2023. Another store is under construction in Greenville, and future locations in Paris and Marshall are planned, said company president Will Burroughs of Mount Pleasant. native.
Huey's Coffee President Will Burrows will address members at the Mount Pleasant City Council's March 19 meeting. The coffee shop company plans to install a vintage Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, better known as the “Huey,” on the roof of its building in Mount Pleasant. (Jordan Green/Longview News Journal Photo)
The coffee shop's owner and founder, Scott Glover, is also the founder of Mount Pleasant-based US Roast, which supplies coffee to restaurants and cafes across the country.
He is also the founder of the famous Mid-America Aviation Museum in Mount Pleasant. The museum is a non-profit living history exhibit featuring numerous flyable military aircraft, including the Huey, a U.S. military helicopter that played a vital role in the Vietnam War.
Burroughs said the museum's Huey was where the idea for the coffee shop's name came from. He and his brother met Glover in 2017 when he was involved with US Roast and began hanging around the museum. The museum acquired an operational Huey at about the same time it came up with the coffee shop concept. The arrival of the helicopter caused a bit of a stir.
“We all kind of threw out ideas and were like, 'Hey, Huey's songs have a nice ring to them,'” he said. “And that's what we ended up with, our whole concept is military aviation themed.”
The Mount Pleasant Coffee Shop will be the company's flagship store. The building, located at 301 W. 16th St., is about 5,000 square feet and was home to the Studebaker car dealership in the 1930s, Burrows said. Until recently, it was an automotive paint shop. Burrows did not say when the store would open.
Burrows said the coffee shop will have 2,300 square feet of seating space, a drive-through that can accommodate 15 to 18 cars, and a commercial kitchen to prepare meals at all of the company's locations.
“It's going to be quite different from other Hueys we put out,” Burrows said.
Aside from the size of the store, the biggest difference is probably the helicopter.
Architectural renderings submitted to the Mount Pleasant City Council during a March 19 meeting show a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, better known as the “Huey,” mounted on the roof of the Huey's Coffee building in Mount Pleasant. A plan is shown. (Jordan Green/Longview News Journal Photo)
Burrows said the idea to attach a helicopter to a building came from Kansas City coffee company The Roastery, which had a Douglas DC-3 airplane angled skyward on its rooftop. It is said that it has been installed. According to an article on aviation news site Simple Flying, the company wanted to pay homage to the role the DC-3 played in transporting coffee beans.
The Huey that will be installed on the roof of the Mount Pleasant building will not be the same as the one at the museum. Burrows said what patrons see on the rooftop is from vendors in the Midwest.
The stationary shell of the soon-to-be-completed helicopter will not contain an engine, transmission or other components, Burrows said. The propellers will be locked to prevent rotation, and the fuselage will be painted military green. It is expected to arrive within the next few weeks.
“It essentially just went to the scrapyard,” he said. “It's going to find a new home. We're going to renovate it, paint it all to bring it back to its original shine, then erect the joists and strap it on the roof for a long time.”
Burrows said he doesn't know much about the bird's history. He said it may have seen military action, but it could also have been used for training purposes.
Burroughs told Mount Pleasant City Council members about the company's plans at their March 19 meeting. He was there to apply for a special use permit to put the Huey on the roof. Although the helicopter is technically a restaurant sign, a permit was required because it cannot land under the city's normal sign regulations.
City leaders were enthusiastic about the news and unanimously approved the permit.
Huey's Coffee supports aviation museums with a mission to honor veterans and preserve the history of military aviation. To that end, Burrows said the coffee shop is offering veterans a 10 percent discount on their purchases.
Overall, he said, the company's goal is to provide East Texas residents with great coffee and give back to the communities in which it operates.
“All kinds of big corporate chains are popping up across the state and across the country,” Burrows said. “Those guys will always have their own place, but you can't beat the local coffee shop.”
