Off the back of what has been a tumultuous year in retail, the Australian-owned specialty coffee franchisor will open two more locations within the month to cater to coffee lovers.
Managing Director and Founder, Kenton Campbell, has been impressed with our nation’s love affair with the humble coffee bean, citing the company’s introduction of the Zarraffa’s drive thru store model in 2009 as a key ingredient in the steady growth of the brand this year.
“It has been a combination of a number of factors including long term planning, an incredibly engaged and loyal customer base, the right blend of product and service, and the opportunity to be able to continue to serve coffee throughout the year that has kept the company trending in the right direction.”
The new Tamworth store is operated by new franchisees Cam Lane and Sally Cook. The pair have relocated from their Queensland base to become part of a brand-new community and live their dream of running their own franchise store in Tamworth.
“Welcoming Cam and Sally to the Zarraffa’s franchisee family has been a thrill, what with Cam having worked in other operational facets of the Zarraffa’s business for a number of years and now he and his partner will be Zarraffa’s ambassadors for a whole new set of customers.”
A second store will open in the south east Queensland growth corridor of Logan in the suburb of Bethania in early December. Run by long term franchisees Bill and Claire Zavos, who along with sons Dillon and Sam, also own and operate the Runaway Bay, Helensvale North and Oxenford Zarraffa’s stores.
“Bill and Claire are valued franchise partners who are now sharing the reins of running their group of small businesses with their family. They are one of a number of second generation, multi-franchise owners – something we are very proud of. Collectively the Zavos family employ approximately 110 local staff and it has never been more apparent how integral small businesses and local ownership are to our communities and the economy.”
Mr Campbell acknowledges that Zarraffa’s long term coffee buying strategies, the end of lease periods during the year and the appetite of the franchisee group to grow their footprints has allowed for the 24 year old company to migrate the business from traditional shopping centre and strip mall locations to stores in drive thru sites.
“The conditions wrought by COVID have taught us that our operation and business planning is sound, and the market has responded with a clear increase in sales across our drive thru stores. While we have closed some sites, due to high rents and end of lease periods – especially in shopping centre locations – this has all been a part of the plan to migrate the business to greater convenience in the specialty coffee market.”