Terrible Love Wine Opened at Historic Baker Center
The Austin coffee operator has expanded into wine service within a repurposed 1911 school band room.
Updated on Sept. 21, 2026 in Openings & Closings
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Terrible Love Wine launched operations on September 18 at 3908 Avenue B, marking a new retail expansion for the local coffee brand. The business is located inside the historic Baker Center, which was originally constructed in 1911.
Why it matters
Operators often leverage historic adaptive reuse to differentiate their brand, as evidenced by the integration of this wine bar into the former band room of a century-old building. This expansion adds a secondary revenue stream to the owner's existing coffee business at the same location.
The new establishment at 3908 Avenue B operates Monday through Wednesday from 4-10 pm. This follows the operator's entry into the site in 2023 when he began serving coffee in the building's former boiler room.
The players
Brian Knowles
An Austin-based entrepreneur who expanded his coffee operation into a wine bar.
Terrible Love Coffee
A local coffee retailer and 2026 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards nominee.
Baker Center
A historic 1911 building in Austin now serving as a mixed-use retail space.
The details
Terrible Love Wine occupies the former band room of the Baker Center, repurposing the historic site's architectural features for retail use. This follows the operator's previous business model shift, which saw the coffee service move into the school's converted boiler room space.
Timeline
1911: The Baker Center building construction was completed.
2023: Brian Knowles began serving coffee at the center.
September 18, 2026: Terrible Love Wine opened for business.
Market Landscape
The opening of Terrible Love Wine reclaims space for wine service in Hyde Park, following the 2019 closure of Vino Vino. It highlights a broader trend of operators utilizing historic adaptive reuse to anchor their business models in established urban neighborhoods.
Operators looking to expand within historic properties should prepare for the unique site-specific permitting and infrastructure costs associated with non-traditional spaces like former boiler or band rooms. Evaluate your current floor plan for underutilized utility rooms that could support auxiliary revenue streams.
The takeaway
Expanding an existing business into a secondary concept can leverage high-traffic historic locations to capture more customer hours. Review your site's physical footprint to determine if secondary uses like evening beverage service can be added to existing operational hours.
Further reading
For more on local shifts in the retail landscape, visit Austin Openings & Closings.
Source note: This article includes information reported by CultureMap Austin.
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