Travis Zittrauer
Vital community member and creative spirit Will Morgan discusses his process, his mission, and his plans for the coming year as he redefines what it means to be Vagabond.
Words and Photos by Travis Zittrauer
Will Morgan paused mid-sentence, seconds after giving me the go-ahead for an interview, to dash out from behind his teal espresso machine and out onto Edgewood Avenue. There, he shouted with a cheerful wave, “Happy Birthday, friend!” to a man who had just walked past his Murray Hill shop. Returning, he mused, possibly to himself more than me, “I don’t know how many more times I’ll be able to do that.” Earlier that week, Will had made the announcement that after nearly a decade, his beloved coffee shop, Vagabond Coffee Co., would be closing its doors at the end of the year.
But this is not the end of Vagabond. In fact, Will is certain that it is just the beginning as he places an enhanced focus towards community building throughout the city. He compares his lifetime of work to a daily routine: “You’ve got to have coffee in the morning before you go to work,” he tells me with a bit of a smirk. “We are going to work; we just got done drinking our coffee.” Will is confident that the past eight years have been a mere precursor to the substantial plans he envisions for the community. It doesn’t take long to see–from the “VAGA” tattooed on his right-hand knuckles to the “BOND” inked on his left–that the word is not just some catchy name for a coffee shop. For Will, it’s a state of mind.
Will is a creative soul, a self-described hustler and a Jacksonville community connoisseur. The Patron Saint of Murray Hill, perhaps? He is an artist, a dreamer, a poet of sorts. He loves Wes Anderson movies and asked all of his groomsmen to wear red beanies for wedding pictures alla “Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” He calls himself a visional idealist and lives by that mantra. “I don’t think there are any inhibitions to your vision.” Creativity flows freely from Will’s mind, into his creations and out onto the street. In his process, he says, “I am going to try to see an ideal version of any story or of anything that is set in front of me.” Since Vagabond opened its Murray Hill brick-and-mortar location some eight years ago, it has been the genesis for countless ventures: pop-ups, music shows, run clubs, bingo nights, “Wine Down Wednesdays,” catering, coffee roasting (of course), and the community favorite Vagabond Flea Market. His famous homemade pop tarts and pastries can be found all across town, from fellow coffee shops to Sunday church services.
“I got into this because I love people, not coffee,” Will says, “I really do love coffee, but I don’t love it like I love people.” Anyone who has had the chance to hang around Vagabond can attest to Will’s outgoing attitude towards every patron. You can catch him early mornings, back up against the wall outside his shop, waiting for you to step in. After you’ve ordered, he’ll ask what you are up to, not as a courtesy, but out of genuine curiosity. If you are just passing through, he’ll give you recommendations on where to go. If you’re a local, he’ll ask for some opinions on the most recent Jags game. By the time you have gotten your coffee (or in my case, a “Duvaaal Fog” a teal drink made with local tea leaves, lavender, and vanilla that tastes like you’re drinking Cinnamon Toast Crunch) undoubtedly, you’ll feel as if you have just made a new friend.
To give an analogy, Will sees himself as a diving board. Sure, you have Olympic divers capable of doing incredible feats… but what is a diver without their diving board? “Yeah, I want to be the guy who does the best flips,” Will said, sticking with the analogy, “but more than anything, I want people to be like, ‘No no no, when you touch Will Morgan, your shit is about to get launched.’” That’s not just an analogy for Will — it is a practice. Vagabond has been the crucial foothold for many other Jacksonville staples. Before Good Dough opened up a physical location across the river, Will was selling their doughnuts. If you squint hard enough, you can still make out the now painted-over logo of the sandwich shop Chancho King, marking the spot where they began business behind the Vagabond bar.
“I want to be a person who provides not just a place, but a feeling.” For him and for many around Jacksonville, that feeling is most certainly community. As Vagabond begins its bold new chapter, that feeling is at the center of Will’s mission. “It takes participation, it takes it not being about me, but it being about a greater collective.” That participation and collective takes the form of the monthly Vagabond Flea Market, which has often shut down a chunk of Edgewood Avenue and hosted hundreds of vendors selling art, books, plants, jewelry, and countless other fine goods. While “the Flea” isn’t going anywhere, there is only more room to grow. On December 21st, Vagabond is partnering with the MOSH to host a week-day night market along the St. Johns, giving more vendors from across the city the opportunity to engage with their community. Will hopes that this will expand and grow into “as big and as awesome and as frequent as it wants to be.”
Will wants everyone to know that he is not going anywhere. While the physical shop may be closing, he can still be found just across the street, roasting his coffee (or, as he described it, working with “a washing machine with flames coming out of it!”). Vagabond Coffee will still be available for online and wholesale purchase, with plans to have frequent pop-ups around the city. Don’t forget that Vagabond started all those years ago, selling coffee out of Will and his wife Samantha’s 1963 Scotty Highlander camper.
Will Morgan knows the impact he has had, and I believe that is what propels him forward. “There are so many things that are outlasting this place, and that is how I know I have succeeded.” At future events, Will plans to set up a camera to let people share their Vagabond memories; a living documentation of the community the shop curated. The Vagabond team will be wrapping up their time in the shop on the 22nd of December. Until then, you can find Vagabond Coffee Co. in the historic Murray Hill business district along Edgewood Avenue and follow their social media @vagabondcoffeeco for updates on future happenings.
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