Fertile Ground

Why Hop & Vine's owner decided to take root in Davidson

Lake Norman Currents | December 2019

By Aaron Garcia

There was almost no way Casey Ashlock was going to open the Hop & Vine in Davidson this year. There wasn't a need for a second location, at least not yet; his first, just 17 miles away in Concord, opened on Jan. 24. As a small business owner, he had enough to do.

On Oct. 16, Ashlock opened his second Hop & Vine in Davidson. Like his Concord spot, its bar is highlighted by tapas and 17 taps of rotating craft beers and a selection of boutique wines, all of which is painstakingly curated.

So, what changed?

Where everybody knows your name

Ashlock wants a trip to Hop & Vine to feel like visiting a friend — the neat one. The minimalist design would border on spartan if it weren't for the contrast of slate grays and light woods, which adds depth and warmth without any clutter.

Most importantly, it spotlights Hop & Vine's array of craft beers and boutique wines. Ashlock says he personally selects the beer list himself, which he said always includes IPAs, porters, stouts, wheats, and more. The goal is to offer things you won't find at a nearby grocery store. Often the menu is "North Carolina-centric," he says, but in early November, for example, it also featured beers from Maine, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

"I love our selection," says Ashlock.

Location, location, location

"I never, under any other circumstances, would've opened two businesses in the same year," says Ashlock, "but I just couldn't give up this space. It was too good."

Ashlock's referring to his spot in the newly opened Linden Building, the mixed-use centerpiece of the town's expansion past its Main Street roots. He says he was "eyeballing" the spot, or at least the idea of it, for three years.

To him, it was the perfect community for what the Hop & Vine is — a community bar.

"Davidson is that quintessential, picturesque town that everybody wants to live in," says Ashlock. He says he loves the amount of foot traffic in the area, how people wave and chat.

"This is my dream, to be in an area like this, around people like these," he says.