A new coffee shop has opened in Salem, giving Roanoke College students more caffeine options to fuel them through the 2025-2026 school year.
7 Brew, a franchise coffee stand, opened its new location off Main Street in Salem, located right next to McDonalds. If you get the chance to visit, you’ll find a fast-paced drive thru where the employees and the music are all energetic and positive.
7 Brew is known for their variety of flavors, offering over 20,000 unique drink combinations. They have something for everyone; whether it’s coffee, energy drinks, or lemonades.
Turner Garza, the director of development at Brew Team Group was able to provide some insight on the new location and his experience opening the new popular coffee chain.
When asked why Salem was chosen as a new host to 7 Brew coffee stand, Garza stated, “It’s hard to describe, it’s just a feeling”. He mentioned passing through Salem once to beat I-81 traffic, and having the feeling that just “felt right”.
As they developed in Salem, Garza realized that the Salem and Roanoke community were the reason it felt right.
“It’s a really tight community which is what we enjoy and that’s evident in our partnership with the Salem and Roanoke County Food Pantry. We really care about the communities that we’re in and that we do our part”
7 Brew shows this connection through local philanthropy. Creating a great first impression to the area, the stand offered free drinks with the option to donate to the local food pantry. During this fundraising event in the last few weeks, Salem 7 Brew has raised the most amount of money out of any of the other 7Brew locations. The community brought in a whopping $13,500 dollars, along with 370 pounds of food to the pantry. At the official ribbon cutting ceremony next week, 7 Brew will present a check to the Salem and Roanoke County Food Pantry.
Other than community partnership, perhaps the most distinct part of a 7 Brew coffee shop is the friendly baristas that willingly greet you in the drive thru.
The company aims to make everyone’s day better, even through the smallest of interactions. “Our goal with the communities is that we hope these microinteractions have a meaningful impact on peoples’ lives,” Garza said, “this is everyone’s chance to be authentically and unapologetically themselves and that’s the coolest part”.
At 7 Brew, they believe that kindness is contagious. This shows especially through their interview process, which Garza describes as “less of an interview and more of a conversation”. Instead of asking for prior job experience and skillsets, the company instead focuses on how they can hold a conversation and be engaged. The personal skills matter more to 7 Brew than the technical skills, which is apparent in their employees’ peppy attitude at the drive through window.
“We see it also in our team-to-team interactions,” Garza said, explaining that even the team GroupMe is active all night as the team talks with each other. Some of his long term friends were even made at 7 Brew locations he has worked at.
So, when you get a moment in between classes, Garza suggests you try his personal favorite at 7 Brew, a Razorberry Energy drink. Or visit them on September 6th to get a free t-shirt with a large drink!
Kara Hopkins
News Editor
