Morning latte decisions are about to get harder in London.
Blank Street Coffee, the fast-growing Brooklyn, New York-based chain, is bringing its inexpensive espresso to the UK capital in June. The first location is set for Fitzrovia, near University College London.
The company plans to open additional locations in quick succession in the area while expanding into the residential Marylebone neighbourhood.
Blank Street is accustomed to moving fast. The chain was started in Williamsburg in summer 2020 by Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha. They now have 29 places around New York, and plan to have 100 locations in the city by the end of this year.
This year the company will also open two-dozen shops in the UK. The expansion follows recovery in Britain’s coffee shop market to £4.4 billion ($5.7 billion) in revenue last year. The number of UK coffee shops now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.
“Our second-biggest city will be in London,” says Menda, who grew up there and is a former managing partner at Reshape Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU