In today’s fast-paced society, 20 years can seem like a lifetime ago—or it can feel like yesterday. In the world of coffee shop franchising, it’s often a little bit of both.While it’s sometimes hard to remember a day without our daily latte or frappe, in reality, the numbers show a different story: in the early 90s there were only around 2,000 specialty coffee shops in the US; by 2005, that number was estimated to be 21,400. Today, there are more than 38,000.
The year 2002 was right in the middle of that specialty coffee shop boom. It was also the year Brad and Angie Barber decided to try their hand at the coffee shop business. They realized their small community in Northern Iowa was lacking a warm and inviting place for people to gather, relax, and enjoy a great cup of coffee. On December 6, 2002, Cabin Coffee Company opened for business on main street in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Brad was already familiar with franchising on the corporate side, having worked in development for two other well-known national chains. His dream of building his own business and creating jobs and opportunities in their community was becoming a reality, so the couple didn’t stop there; they opened a second store in nearby Mason City three years later.
In late 2005 the Barbers were approached about franchise opportunities. But unlike the rest of the coffee shop franchising industry, which was growing exponentially, Brad and Angie knew they wanted to take a slower approach to expansion, to ensure it was both strategic and manageable.
“I had worked in that environment in a previous position with a national chain, that was just explosive growth—trying to open a lot of stores in a short amount of time, and it was not fun,” says Brad. “It was chaotic, it was out of control, and it was not healthy.”
The Barbers had also worked hard to establish the Cabin Coffee brand and didn’t want to take a chance on having franchisees who didn’t fit their vision of it. “We feel a responsibility to really protect the brand for all of our other owners,” says Angie.
“We truly believe it would be irresponsible of us to just open stores just because somebody had the money to do it, rather than because we felt like they were a really good fit for us. Protecting the investment of all of our owners is very important to us.”
The strategic and managed growth plan that makes Cabin Coffee different from its competitors also allows for more options for potential franchisees. Seven different models of stores are available, from a new Express drive-through only footprint to a full-size Lodge floorplan with a community meeting room.
Also unlike some of their competitors, there are also no restrictions on franchise locations when it comes to community size. Currently, the populations of locations with a Cabin Coffee range from small (around 3,000 in Blue Earth, Minnesota) to medium (65,000+ in Waterloo, Iowa) to large (about 2,000,000 in suburban Nashville, Tennessee). Being open to smaller towns reflects what the Barbers appreciate most: the sense of community in their own town of Clear Lake, and then neighboring Mason City, that helped propel their success.
“One of the big things that Brad and I feel so blessed by is our communities across northern Iowa,” says Angie. “All of our customers and the residents there—they really embraced it and they’re what helped us grow our business. We also see that happening in communities when a Cabin Coffee opens. The warm, friendly spaces are designed to feel welcoming, and we’re thrilled when we see a community embrace a Cabin Coffee as its own.”
Even as new franchise locations open, the connection to Clear Lake remains, as new franchisees come to the original store for training. “Owners come here and train behind the bar, so it’s really this entire community that has helped these businesses thrive in other communities,” says Angie.
“They’re patient with that new owner just learning the ropes and they cheer them on. It’s really a cool thing when we get to open the doors to a new franchise location, while knowing that it’s truly been the people here in northern Iowa that have helped us all these years; if they wouldn’t have supported us, all of these other communities would not have a new Cabin Coffee in their town.”
While the importance of relationship building and community have remained firm over the past two decades, the Barbers laugh when they think of how quickly some other aspects of the business have changed, especially the technology. When the first Cabin Coffee opened 20 years ago, the store operated on a $199 cash register from Staples, paper guest check pads, and two phone lines (so one could receive orders by fax). Today, online ordering, interactive screens, remote headsets, apps, loyalty cards, and more have changed the coffee shop game considerably.
Angie believes the competition all around them is what pushes them to be better. It also helps differentiate Cabin Coffee from its competitors. In addition to the unique interior spaces, each location still roasts its coffee beans on-site daily to ensure the freshest cup of coffee for customers. In fact, no coffee is served, or beans sold that are more than 14 days past their roasting date.
Along with the change in technology, the Barbers also mention menu changes as a key area in which they’ve learned to remain flexible. “The boom in cold drinks still amazes me—frappes and cold press and Nitro,” says Brad.
“When we first opened, it took us forever to get a following with frappes. We would literally give them away to try to get people to taste them so we could increase that portion of our sales,” says Angie with a laugh. “Now it’s just hands down our number one selling drink in every store.”
It’s that ability to be flexible and fluid with changing menus and markets, while remaining true to what’s important—quality products, superior customer service, and a unique brand—that have propelled Cabin Coffee into a third decade.
“When we’re building new stores, we’ll sometimes add ‘Enjoy the ride’ on the wall behind the saddle seats,” says Brad. “Because that’s certainly what we’ve been doing since the beginning.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.