Las Vegas , Nv - 1 February, 2002 -

For coffee lovers in Bixby Knolls and downtown, the independent It's A Grind locations have proved a popular alternative to the chain coffee stores seen throughout the city. Now It's A Grind lovers will be able to visit their favorite coffee shops in Las Vegas and other cities around the western United States. Franchises are being set up, and there will be 61 It's A Grind location within two years, according to Bob Phibbs, the retail consultant working with It's A Grind. All of the training for those new store owners will take place in Long Beach at the new corporate headquarters for It's A Grind in the Marina Pacifica shopping center. More than a third of those new coffee houses will be in Las Vegas, where the owners of It's A Grind have struck a deal with one of the founders of Kinko's to open 27 of the coffee shops in the fast-growing city. Some of them will be in hotels but the majority will be in areas and centers serving the growing residential community in Vegas. What has made It's A Grind the success that others wasn't to copy, is both its good coffee and its hometown, family owned appeal. Marty and Louise Cox opened the store and instilled a focus on community involvement that is part of the five owned stores operating today. The key to the success of the franchises will be following the entire model set up the Cox family, Phibbs said. These franchise owners need to know their market and community and be active in it, he said. "It's the pride of ownership that makes this work," Phibbs said. "This is not a public company. These are independent coffee shops." That need to have a community feel will be one of the things instilled during the two-week training process for the new owners, Phibbs said. Right now there is a staff of 10 at the new corporate headquarters, but that number will grow in the coming months as the number of It's A Grind locations grow, he added. Training will go out to the newly opened store to help the stores get off the ground.

This article has been read 921 times .