A popular coffee shop in the Nations, Red Bicycle, has been ravaged by an early morning fire. Firefighters were dispatched to the location on 51st Avenue North around 1:30 a.m. after receiving a call, per a report by WKRN. They found heavy smoke and flames originating from a back storage room and spreading to the attic.
While responding to a burglary call at the same address, officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department discovered the rear of the building on fire. The firefighters reported having quickly extinguished the fire, which seemed to have started in a utility room filled with electrical panels, as noted by WSMV. Thankfully, no one was inside the restaurant during the inferno, and no injuries have been reported.
The incident has led to significant damage to the Red Bicycle, forcing a temporary closure for repairs. The aftermath has left the shop "closed for the foreseeable future," with the extent of the fire damage being serious enough to shut down operations, as revealed in an Instagram post by the coffee shop and shared by Nashville Business Journal. The cause of the fire is currently unknown and under investigation.
Having relocated from North Carolina under the stewardship of CEO David Trett, the Red Bicycle brand has woven into Nashville's fabric, expanding to ten locations in the Greater Nashville area. Especially hard hit by the fire was the Nations branch, a favorite haunt for local caffeine aficionados since its opening in 2018 on 712 51st Ave. N. To mitigate the financial impact on its staff during the rebuild, the coffee shop has established a GoFundMe campaign. "We will be posting more information very soon," Red Bicycle stated in the Instagram post, "Thank you for your support, we are so grateful to all our customers.
