‘Being a Misfit’: Misfit Society Coffee Club opens near UMich Diag

Located beneath the Six11 apartment complex along East University Avenue, a new cafe hosted a “soft-opening” Thursday. The Misfit Society Coffee Club is an Ann Arbor extension of the Grand Rapids-based Social Misfits — a restaurant that markets itself as a welcoming establishment for “nonconformity” and “the underdog.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Misfit Society owner Spencer Raymond said he hoped to recreate the customer experience at Grand Rapids’ Social Misfits restaurant in Ann Arbor.

“We (want to) find people that relate to being a misfit in one way or another,” Raymond said. “That’s the core piece I wanted to try … and implement in a way that people can relate to.”

Standing next to wallpaper depicting various rock album covers of the ’70s and ’80s, Raymond said he aimed to depict the misfit mentality when designing the interior of the coffee shop.

“This is all (music) that’s (from the) ’70s and ’80s … but a lot of these albums, people wouldn’t know what they were,” Raymond said. “It’s just fun, different and eclectic. (The wallpaper) was a way to express (the misfit mentality and is) … meant to not feel perfect. There’s an art form in that, appreciating that it’s imperfect.”

Though the space is small compared to neighboring coffee shops, including M-36 Coffee Roasters and Revive + Replenish, The Misfit Society Coffee Club offers seating at a bar and long high table, elements that Raymond said convey a message of community.

“There’s a lot of community that we’re trying to drive,” Raymond said. “It’s like you’ve been spending the entire day at the library and now you can come here and recharge with coffee and unwind, have a conversation. It’s not meant to be one super uncomfortable chair sitting in a corner. … It is meant to be comfortable.” 

LSA sophomore Anya Gupta attended the soft launch and said she enjoyed the atmosphere and food. As a member of the Pi Sigma Epsilon business fraternity, Gupta said she has been helping Misfit Society with its marketing campaign. 

“(Pi Sigma Epsilon) is working on (an in-person) consulting project with Social Misfits just trying to help them with their launch and their new location,” Gupta said. “I’m a coffee girl. I have been everywhere around here and I haven’t seen the vibes and the energy they’ve encompassed here. I think they’re so cool and they’re so different, and I think they do a good job of owning how cool and different they are.”

Megan Seeley, marketing manager for Misfit Society, told The Daily she plans to bring Social Misfits’ videographer to Ann Arbor to create reels and advertise the new coffee shop. She also said Misfit Society plans to collaborate with other local businesses to advertise.

“Collaboration with other businesses is key,” Seeley said. “It’s worked great for us at Social Misfits. My main goal is once a month (to) have another business in-house.”

LSA junior Lilah Shandel, who lives in the Six11 apartment complex, wrote in an email to The Daily that she doesn’t have an opinion on the new cafe, saying it doesn’t stand out to her compared to nearby coffee shops.

“I honestly don’t have much of an opinion on the coffee shop,” Shandel wrote. “It’s a very cool space and has good coffee and food, but M-36 is across the street, Revive is next door, and Starbucks is around the corner, so there isn’t much change as a matter of convenience and availability of coffee.”

In response to nearby competition, Raymond said Misfit Society hopes to differentiate themselves by their location and convenience factor, including an app that allows users to order online and create a running tab of their orders.

“Once you get into the space, I think it speaks for itself,” Raymond said. “We have the ability with our app to place orders ahead of time, create a tab on our app and then rack up this tab whenever, (and) it’s all connected to Apple Pay. There’s definitely convenience where, if you’re upstairs and you just woke up, you can place your coffee (order) and (we’ll) text you when your order is ready. So (students) can just walk downstairs and grab it or on their way to class.”

Raymond said he thinks the main appeal of the Misfit Society is its atmosphere and decoration, which he said is unique when compared to other coffee shops.

“Our core competency is to sell coffee, but there’s this secret sauce,” Raymond said. “It’s a vibe, it’s the hangout. It’s coming in and finding something different, something that you don’t see every day.” 

Misfit Society Coffee Club’s grand opening is March 24. 

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.