25 year old Brisbane entrepreneur George Drivas is set to open three Coffee Club stores at the Brisbane Airport over the next three months, taking him to five stores in total.
George, who opened his first store in December 2008, has been building his coffee empire since he began working for The Coffee Club 10 years ago.
Determined to succeed, George climbed his way up The Coffee Club corporate ladder; from washing dishes at age 14 to owning and managing his very first store at just 20 years of age.
An indisputable go-getter, George’s store in the departures terminal at the Brisbane International Airport is the most successful Coffee Club store in all of Australia. He prides himself on staff retention.
“I am a big believer in the importance of staff morale, and always make sure my employees know they are valued, ” he said.
“We already employ 40 staff members and have had to hire another 60 for the next three store openings,” says George.
Two of George’s new stores, which are recycled shipping containers, are the first franchised shipping container coffee stores in Australia. They opened just outside of the Virgin and Qantas terminals at Brisbane Domestic Airport on June 14, with the third store due to open at the Brisbane Airport Service Centre later this month.
The two shipping container stores, which will be the first installation of their kind in Queensland, also feature revolutionary sustainable green rooves. These integrate vegetation on top of their industrial build to convert the conventional concrete rooves into environmentally friendly structures.
The Coffee Club Director, John Lazarou, said the group is looking forward to expanding their network throughout the Brisbane Airports.
“We are proud to announce these will be the first franchised shipping container coffee stores in Australia. We pride ourselves on giving franchisees the systems and infrastructure they need to develop their businesses further,” he said
“It’s always great to see our franchisees open new stores. George knows these systems inside and out and goes above and beyond to fulfil The Coffee Club’s promise by providing our customers with good food, great service and excellent coffee,” said John.
The three new airport Coffee Club stores will be open seven days a week, from 5am to 10pm.
Last year, The Coffee Club served 50 million cups of coffee and proudly employs more than 6,000 people nationally.