They call themselves the “healthier version of Smoothie King.”

That’s the shorthand husband-and-wife duo Keifer and Taylor Avery used to describe The Five4, their new tea and shake shop in the heart of Gilbert.

The shop, located on Hampton Street across from Gilbert’s Town Hall, is named to nod at the town’s zip code, 29054. 

Having opened last September, the owners say they have steadily gained customers, especially students from Gilbert schools that are only a couple miles from the shop.

The Averys moved to the area from Dallas-Fort Worth in 2020 when people were getting used to going out again amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Owning a tea and shake shop is nothing new for the Averys, who had several in Texas. 

Taylor said Texas is overly saturated with such shops. 

While The Five4 opened last year, it is actually a sister shop to The Lex Nutrition and Energy in the Flight Deck shopping center and Strong Body inside the Strong Body gym in Batesburg-Leesville. While each shop has different owners, the owners are connected through business partnerships and offer similar healthy teas and protein shakes and coffees.

You can also find positive messages on their cups handwritten by employees in all the shops.

The Averys and The Lex’s owners, Dan and Mallory Dolan, are all from Texas having moved to South Carolina at roughly the same time. 

“We have a passion for nutrition,” Taylor Avery said, “ultimately providing something healthy to people.”

The Five4 offers meal replacement protein shakes, naturally caffeinated teas and protein coffee drinks. It also sells kid-friendly teas that are non-caffeinated. 

The hope was to also create a “a safe place for the kiddos after school,” and the shop also has plenty of space in addition to games, free Wi-Fi and television. The shop also offers a student happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Taylor used to be a teacher, so welcoming the Gilbert students is something close to her heart. 

After The Lex and Strong Body opened up, Taylor knew she wanted to look at another town in the county to open a shop.

“We were looking for another town and [employee] Christi [Madeline] told us about Gilbert,” said Taylor. 

The space was a little intimidating at first, and Taylor wasn’t sure what to do with all the space. But the spacious room ended up coming in handy as the shop now hosts monthly vendors, as many as four at a time.

This is one way in which the Averys look to support the local community as many of their vendors are local to the Lexington County area, including a 17-year-old Gilbert High School student who owns her own online clothing boutique.

The shop owners said they enjoy the history of the space, which has formerly been a grocery store, a gas station, a martial arts studio and, most recently, a guitar shop.

“It’s been a little bit of everything,” Taylor said.

The shop is open 6 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday.