At Sunday House Club, you’ll find DJs, fist-pumping music and a synchronized crowd belting out lyrics to the same tune.
But this isn’t your typical nightclub.
It’s a coffee shop — and attendees have traded vodka seltzers for lattes.
“Times are changing,” said Sunday House Club co-creator Juan Beltran. “The culture is changing, club culture is kind of dying. People are tired of overpriced drinks and just like going to the club and getting drunk. And most people now just want to have a good time sober.”
Beltran and his partner, Sebastian Leon, love to have a good time.
That’s why the two created Pulxe STL, an event-planning business, a couple of years ago to host college parties. They started it in their dorms at Lindenwood University and evolved the business into event spaces around town. But over time, Beltran said they grew tired of the nightlife vibe.
“Hangovers can take the back seat for now,” Beltran said. These parties are held on Sundays, from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — and are changing St. Louisans’ perceptions of what it means to have a good time.
“We’re doing this just to show people that you don’t need to drink alcohol or spend a lot of money on drinks and be drunk to have fun,” Leon said. “This is a good way to connect with good people, get contacts, have fun, dance.”
The daytime parties are family friendly and attract people of all ages and professional backgrounds, he said.
“We welcome everyone,” Beltran added. “We’ve seen people from different countries who live in St. Louis come to these events and have a good time.” He added that these daytime events are also for people to “make something out of their Sundays instead of just ordering food and rotting in bed.”
He officially launched the Sunday House Club in November, but Beltran said they’d been testing it out with a few pop-ups that started in August. The biggest one so far took place in November at Northwest Coffee Roasting Co. in the Central West End.
“We’ve had over 650 people show up to the coffee shop, which has been insane for the business,” Beltran said.
Bevo Caffé hosted December’s party. The lounge in the Bevo Mill neighborhood has held DJ sets in the daytime a few times before, which made co-owner Jasmina Smajic immediately on board with Sunday House Club.
“I love this whole fast paced and just like young energy. It’s just cool, I love that,” she said. “Especially on a Sunday when it’s icy and gloomy outside when we want to be on the beaches in Mexico or somewhere else.”
Beltran and Leon begin the process of organizing the daytime coffee parties by finding a local cafe open to having their space accommodate dozens — or hundreds — of people looking to dance. Then they bring together a lineup of local DJs — some who are university students themselves — to play house music mixes.
Gaven Zou, who performs as Zavyn, is a full-time aerospace engineer who DJs on the weekends. He played a set at Bevo Caffé.
“I’ve heard of this concept before in Denver and in Los Angeles, but this is the first in [St. Louis], so I’m really excited for where it’s going to go,” Zou said, adding that playing his first set at the coffee party was “surreal.”
Nisveta Fejzic of south St. Louis found out about the party at Bevo Caffé after seeing a viral Sunday House Club post on Instagram. She attended with her younger sister, Ajla, and said the fun atmosphere helps a lot with combating the “Sunday scaries,” which is the feeling of dreading Sundays as a new week approaches and not having done anything productive.
“I like the idea of coming together on a Sunday,” she said. “Like you can go to church or you could come here and get your coffee and listen to some music and get warm. This is like the opposite of a ‘Sunday scary.’ This is like a Sunday parade.”
The Sunday House Club is sticking with area coffee shops for now, but Beltran said they plan on expanding to bigger venues when the weather gets warmer and with more offerings for attendees, such as yoga and juices.
But even as the venues get bigger, their goal will stay the same: creating a space for the community to get together in a healthy environment.
The next Sunday House Club is Jan. 18 at SweetArt in Midtown. The first 100 RSVPs get free entry. After that, tickets become $5, $8 and then $12 as the date approaches.
