Popular Kennewick coffee shop is getting new owners and a few changes

A popular Kennewick coffee shop with signature muscle car-themed drinks like the Hemi and Burnout is changing hands.

The owners of Traveler Mobile Espresso have purchased the Barracuda Coffee’s Kennewick location that’s been open for about five years.

Barracuda Coffee owner Jake Shupe said he has too many irons in the fire — between being a real estate agent and working for his brother’s construction crew and owning two Barracuda shops and a mobile trailer.

Selling the Kennewick location at 320 N. Kellogg St. will allow Shupe to simplify life and reduce stress for he and his wife Michelle. And as a bonus, he sold it to former employee Zach Case and his wife Katie.

Shupe will retain the Barracuda shop in Richland on 2171 W. Van Giesen St. just off the Highway 240 bypass, which he has owned since 2009 when he bought Barracuda from the original owner who started it in 2003.

Shupe said all gift cards not used at the Kennewick location by the end of June still will be valid at the Richland shop.

New owners

For the Cases, the move will be a path to more security when they officially take over July 1.

After the pair had their second child two years ago, Zach Case opened a coffee catering business in the Tri-Cities to combat the difficulty of finding child care.

Case started staying home with their infant and then 3-year-old during the week while his wife worked, then he would staff events on weekends with Traveler Espresso.

Then the pandemic hit. Bookings for coffee catering dried up. Case recently had his first event since March 2020. Now he’s ready to get back to work.

“I’m excited to see people again,” Case said. “I’ve been doing coffee for so long that more than anything, I miss people.”

Case said he will change the name to Traveler Espresso but otherwise the transition will be fairly seamless.

Customers will see a new menu with Case’s own concoctions, but fear not — because he worked at Barracuda he can create similar customer favorites.

Traveler Espresso also will continue to use coffee beans from Barracuda’s in-house roasting company Charis Coffee Roasters.

They also plan to add a cozy seating area inside and a place for children to play.

Case will be removing the existing coffee roaster and converting the space to include rolls of butcher paper, crayons, toys and games in a contained area.

“When you want to go somewhere or when my wife wants to meet someone — you just hope the kids sit nice,” Case said. “There really is no where to go.”

It will help entertain his kids when they have to come to work with him, and he hopes it will be a place to fill the void where parents can actually meet up without worrying about their children getting into mischief.

Traveler Espresso’s hours will remain 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

More information: travelerespresso.com, Traveler Espresso’s Facebook page, Barracuda Coffee or Charis Coffee Roasters.