Blank Street Coffee
 | This article needs to be updated. (March 2024) |
 | |
| Formerly | RS-RH Opco 1[1] |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Retail coffee |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Vinay Menda & Issam Freiha[2] |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Number of employees | 157[1] |
| Website | www |
Blank Street is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It was launched in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2020. As of December 2022, the company operates 58 locations in New York, London, Boston, and D.C.[3]
History
[edit]Blank Street was established in May of 2020, launching three months later in the parking lot of the Wythe Diner in Brooklyn. It was here that founders Issam Freiha and Vinay Menda began selling coffee out of their battery-powered mobile coffee cart, in partnership with EV Foods.[4] Menda from the UAE and Freiha from Lebanon, the two came to New York to study at NYU and Columbia respectively.[5]
The pair was inspired by the high-growth, small-format, and mobile-first food retail businesses in Asia, and saw the opportunity to replicate that experience in the US.[5][6] However, less than a year into the business, they would open their first brick-and-mortar location on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.[7]
In two years, Blank Street had opened 40 locations across Brooklyn and Manhattan. The rapid expansion was backed by prominent investors, including General Catalyst and Tiger Global.[8]
Expansion would soon reach other US cities, such as Boston, where they opened their first location at Beacon Hill in 2022.[9] That same year, Blank Street would also extend into Washington, D.C., making their debut in Dupont Circle.[10]
The growing chain also entered the UK in 2022, first opening a shop in the Fitzrovia district of London.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Blank Street Overview". PitchBook. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ "VINAY MENDA & ISSAM FREIHA". Brooklyn Magazine. June 16, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Goldstein, Li (December 14, 2022). "How Blank Street Coffee Became a Blank Canvas for Internet Girlies". Bon Appétit. Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ Yu, Douglas (October 13, 2021). "Blank Street Coffee's $25 Million Raise Shows What Big Institutions Want From Food Service: Quality And Convenience". Forbes. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ a b Hall, Christine (October 31, 2021). "General Catalyst, Tiger Global lead $25M investment into Blank Street's micro specialty coffee shops". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Blank Street, the High-Growth, Small-Format and Tech-Forward Coffee Company Secures $25 Million in Series A Funding". Global Newswire. October 13, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Holaday, Carsen (February 2, 2021). "Blank Street opens first brick-and-mortar shop on Bedford Avenue". Brooklyn Paper. Schneps Media. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ Moskin, Julia (August 29, 2022). "It's Not Just You — Blank Street Coffee Is Suddenly Inescapable". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ Gardizy, Anissa (August 22, 2022). "This high-tech coffee shop wants to rival Dunkin' and Starbucks in Boston". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Montgomery, Mimi (October 19, 2022). "The Blank Street Coffee Empire Is Coming to DC". Washingtonian. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Krader, Kate (March 15, 2022). "A New Coffee Company Is Taking On Starbucks in London". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Joanna (May 30, 2023). "How Blank Street Coffee took over London". Evening Standard. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
External links
[edit]Media related to Blank Street Coffee at Wikimedia Commons
