Two Guns takes aim at Hermosa
by Elka Worner
Fans of Two Guns will be able to savor their flat white at the popular coffee purveyor’s new pop-up location on upper Pier Avenue.
Two Guns owner Andrew “Stan” Stanisich, who opened the pop up in January, hopes to turn the Kinecta Bank space into a coffee shop with outdoor seating and a walk-up window for mobile orders.
He’s looking at a crowded market. Java Man, Sosta, Source Café, Gum Tree, Lucky 7 Coffee and Starbucks are all within walking distance of the former Kinecta location, next to the post office.
“It’s good for the area to have choice. I don’t want to be the guy who says that you don’t want any competition,” Stanisich said. “We all serve the same product, but we do it in our own way.”
The New Zealand transplant hopes to replicate the success of his first coffee shop on Billy Goat Hill in Manhattan Beach, which he opened in 2011. He has branched out to El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, where he partnered with Sugar Dayne Cookies.
Stanisich said his pop up has already drawn regulars from Billy Goat Hill, which was torn down to make way for a senior housing development. The original coffee shop was popular among regulars, he said, who just wanted to hang out, and people heading to work.
“Our business model has always been to serve really high-quality products quickly and get people on their way,” Stanisich said.
Marc Carter, who works near the Pier Avenue pop up, said he comes for the flat white, an espresso with micro-foamed milk. The Wales native said he prefers a shorter cup of joe with no sugar. “They make the exact international style that I like,” he said. ER