The former Starbucks Coffee location in Cook Street Village, which has sat empty since it closed in September, is getting a new—and far more local—tenant.

Hey Happy is gearing up to open its third location in Victoria this winter, bringing one of the city’s favourite coffee spots to a neighbourhood that co-owner Rob Kettner says has been on the cafe’s bucket list for some time.

“We're just so stoked to be in Cook Street Village,” Kettner told Capital Daily. “It's a place that we've had our eye on forever.

“It feels good to potentially be, you know, an anchoring location for such a great neighbourhood.”

Kettner says his team wasn’t in the market for a new location—it currently has shops on Johnson and at Uptown—but when the building’s owners, Jawl Properties, reached out about a potential tenancy on Cook, it was a no-brainer to strike a deal.

Kettner says Jawl Properties was determined to bring local talent to the space and even turned down interest from bigger companies.

“Apparently, there were a number of Vancouver—to even more national—brands interested in it, but they were adamant that a local company go into the space,” says Kettner.

“It was a really easy decision for us.”

With plans for a January opening, the new space will undergo renovations in the coming months with the help of local design company Bidgood, which created the look of Hey Happy’s Lower Johnson spot. Kettner says the Cook location will have a similar feel to its downtown cafe, and fan-favourite menu items will be on offer.

“We've got a few items that are must-haves,” says Kettner, pointing to Hey Happy’s popular coconut milk ice latte, signature drinks, and breakfast sandwiches. 

“Anything that people really love downtown, you'll see over there, and then in addition to that, there will be some Cook Street unique items, with potentially a little bit more of an emphasis on a weekend brunch as well.”

The menu will be led by Hey Happy’s head chef Chris Clasen, who Kettner says “is really good at what he does.”

Kettner says he’s already envisioning how the cafe will fit into the village’s community dynamic.

“You know, we can see people just coming to Hey Happy before or after going down to the beach or to the park or to the tennis courts or just strolling around the village, and yeah, it's super exciting,” he says.