The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to enter New York, competing against Starbucks
The independent coffee retailer announced on Tuesday that they plan to open 100 franchise locations in New York City over the next decade, thus betting on the “Starbucks fatigue” and entering the coffee wars in the city.
There are about 1,200 shops opened in numerous countries all over the world. But even so, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is planning to go further and to enter the New York City’s coffee wars. They come with an aggressive growth and marketing strategy at a time when other businesses are making one step back.
The Los Angeles-based retailer is planning to open its first franchise locations in Manhattan by the end of this year and over the course of the next 10 years, the company will have no less than 100 stores open throughout the entire NYC, or so they announced on Tuesday, June 26th.
“One of the things we are doing now is we are embarking on aggressive franchise growth in the U.S. to keep pace with what’s going on internationally,” John Fuller, who is both the CEO and president of the chain, said in an interview.
The majority of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf cafes are located in Asia today, about 75 percent of all the cafes of the chain. Of the rest of them, which are in the US, most of them are in Southern California.
According to experts, this is actually a great time for a coffee and tea chain to enter the market and grow in Manhattan, as the rents are finally declining in the region, thus providing more businesses with the opportunity to come to NYC.
Also, the “Starbucks fatigue” could turn out to be a great advantage to the Coffee Bean. Today, you see a Starbucks coffee at every corner and people might want a change in the scenery.
“That helps benefit us as well as other brands,” Fuller explained. “We’re not as corporate. We’re the ones who get to decide.”
Having “tea” in the name can also be an advantage, especially for those customers interested in lower-calories and healthier drinks.
“The next generation isn’t soda drinkers,” Fuller mentioned. “They are coffee and tea drinkers.”
