Even in the earliest iterations of Jay Weatherly's career, coffee was always front and center. As a barista in high school, there was just something about coffee shops and their ability to connect people and create a community that drew in Jay. So it was unsurprising to many who knew him when he bought a coffee shop in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2007 and rebranded it as High Five Coffee.
What I love about coffee shops is that they're these places that unintentionally community is created. You can walk in and not know the name of most of the people that you're sharing the space with, but at the end of the day and at the end of the week, you start recognizing that you're in community with those people, and that's something really special.
The Asheville community embraced Jay and his High Five Coffee shop vision. Soon, he opened a second location in downtown Asheville, then a riverside location in 2017, completing his portfolio of brewing businesses. In 2024, Hurricane Helene ended up testing Jay's idea of the community surrounding a coffee shop, and in a time of trials and trauma, High Five Coffee delivered on his vision.
The other side that comes with disaster oftentimes, and this town did show up in truly special ways; it galvanized what it means to be a part of other people's lives and a community.
Despite the riverside location being damaged beyond use, Jay opened his store, which still had power, the day after the hurricane landed. Community members flocked to the shop where hot coffee and eager shoulders awaited.
While Jay cared for his community one cup at a time, Lowe's went to work with disaster relief items and financial assistance through the Western North Carolina Recovery Fund. The $2.5 million fund provided grants directly to small businesses in need in the wake of Hurricane Helene. High Five Coffee was one of the 100 businesses who received the $20,000 grant. Jay says the sense of urgency Lowe's operated with was critical to his company, "Lowe's was one of the first grant resources I heard of. I applied and saw maybe the quickest response time to getting the money, which was, I can't tell you how instrumental that was to be a cash flow for me to stay alive."
Jay plans for his riverside shop to be back up and running in May. He hopes High Five Coffee will always be a place the community can lean on in good times and bad. So does Lowe's.
Being reminded that Lowe's was a North Carolina headquartered company, a presence was happening - and it wasn't just handing out buckets. Lowe's truly did a good job showing up.
