The stage is Art Basel Miami, an annual gathering of global artists and designers from around the world. With events and gallery openings taking place all around us, the Miami Design District is excited to welcome a up-to-date, high-end opening of a different kind: the long-awaited arrival BIGFACE brandcompany’s flagship store.
The up-to-date café is a 2,500-square-foot, ultra-modern building that serves as both a café and retail space for the NBA star (and soon free agent) Jimmy Butler, whose work is supported by the COO of the BIGFACE brand, Britt Berg. The animated duo imagined a retail concept like this back in 2023, but now it’s open to the public.
“We want to create something completely different,” Berg told me on opening weekend. “We want consumers to be curious and ask what’s going on. Ultimately, we want them to feel content.”
Art Basel is a week of competition for attention and events, but BIGFACE surrounded the café throughout. To celebrate the opening, owner Jimmy Butler and BIGFACE rolled out the red carpet with a VIP party attended by Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pogba, Kevin Love and DJ Khaled. The next morning they had a yoga session and ended the weekend with a stop at a select car show. Most notably, on opening weekend, Butler was seen behind a bar taking shots at goal Modbar Espresso is OFFgiving him a view of the proceedings from the court’s perspective.
“I feel grateful,” says Jimmy Butler Sprudge. “It’s overwhelming to see the support. BIGFACE is bigger than I ever imagined and the opportunity to work behind the bar and talk to customers is the reason I started it all.”
The BIGFACE café in the Design District of Miam is not accidental. This district is the center of art and fashion in the city, which makes it the perfect place to bridge the gap between cultures through coffee.”[Guests] they might ask themselves, is this a coffee shop or a clothing store?” says Berg. “We want to be coffee first, so the bar is front and center.”
The elegant, gallery-like interior of the store consists mainly of white walls, metallic silver furniture and colorful accents from BIGFACE products. The back of the café has plush sofas and stadium-style seating, encouraging longer stays. The goal of a minimalist space is to provide visitors with a high experience.
“Man, the details,” Butler tells us. “It’s everything from working with the team on the glass we serve the coffee in, to the pouring ratios, to the straws we utilize. No detail has been overlooked here, and they all contribute to customer satisfaction and quality in the cup.”
This attention to detail extends to the hardware, of course. The space is the Modbar Espresso AV undercounter coffee machine, equipped with brewing and steam actuators tailored to individual needs. There are two Mahlkönig E80S GBW grinders next to Modbar. BIGFACE has started cooperation with A company was established on their custom glassware and drinks. The selection of advanced coffee equipment is noticeable, but it comes at a price, even for professional athletes.
“Cafes aren’t low-cost and they take time to build!” Butler says with a laugh. “We dug up a lot of stuff here, the ancient koi pond where our grease trap is, pipes from the 1900s, city of Miami permits. But the coolest thing is that we did it and now people can enjoy it.”
The first month of opening was quite a journey for BIGFACE, but if the premiere at Art Basel is anything to go by, the space was very well received. This coffee shop is the culmination of Jimmy Butler’s foray into the world of coffee, from brewing coffee during the NBA lockdown bubble to opening his own coffee shop. We can’t wait to see where BIGFACE goes next.
