Botanical Coffee Shop Casa Flores Planned for Southside Park

Three sisters are in the process of converting a small retail space in a mixed-use building in Southside Park into a botanical coffee shop.

Casa Flores is planned for 1033 S St. in Sacramento and is being opened by sisters Hassel, Sabinne and Thamara Flores. It will serve a variety of coffee and tea drinks and food items such as a Salvadoran quesadilla and a variety of pastries, cookies, muffins and Danishes. The operators, who were born and raised in El Salvador, plan to decorate the approximately 750-square-foot space with plants and greenery.

“Given our multicultural backgrounds, we wanted our coffee shop to embrace not only our Latin roots but our Spanish ones as well,” said Hassel Flores in an email. “Our goal is to make our guests feel like they are walking into a small coffee shop in Europe. The blend between European and Latin is what gives our coffee shop its unique personality; something Sacramento has not seen before.”

It will be the first business venture for the Flores sisters, all of whom attended California State University Sacramento — Hassel, 27, received a graphic design degree and Sabinne, 23, got a film production degree. Thamara, 20, is on track to graduate next year with a degree in fashion merchandising and marketing.

“Needless to say, a coffee business may sound left-field for us, but in our opinion it has always made perfect sense,” said Sabinne Flores in an email. “We come from a country which was once the number one coffee producer in the world, and we find ourselves at local coffee shops every weekend without fail to unwind and spend some time together, just the three of us.”

The S Street site is on the ground floor of a mixed-use building that also includes housing units and a separate retail space, currently occupied by a salon. Broker Matt Axford of Turton Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord in the lease for the space. The surrounding area, which is largely residential, has several coffee shops within a mile radius including Tupi Coffee, Milka Coffee Roasters, Camellia Coffee Roasters and Cafe Xocolatl.

Casa Flores is anticipated to open this summer. Once open, the operators plan to regularly host events such as community runs, open-mic nights, crafting events and local artist features.