Seattle Drip Offers Drive Thru Coffee Franchises
Jackson, MS isn’t known to rival Seattle as a coffee mecca, but it does have its share of franchise success stories, boasting such hometown (or nearby) franchise success stories as McAlister’s Deli, U-Save Auto Rental, Newk’s Cafe, and Oby’s.
Seattle Drip has grown from one store in 2001 to fifteen stores in three states in 2006. Its roaster’s espresso beans were voted “ Seattle’s Favorite” in 2005 and included in the United States’ “Top Three Espresso Beans” by Roast Magazine in 2006. Shipped within days of roasting, Seattle Drip maintains that it provides the “highest quality coffees are always fresh and guaranteed to be ‘The Smoothest Coffee on the Road’”
Be a Coffee Franchise Tycoon… Instantly!
Now you can be an instant coffee tycoon without investing a dime… Thanks to to the folks at Jamopolis Interactive, creators of an interactive game called Coffee Tycoon that actually lets you try your hand at building a coffee franchise empire.
That’s right… You can manage a coffee franchise by hiring more employees and managers, setting and changing your product offering, pricing and menu, getting and upselling customers, finding and opening new stores, selling franchises and expanding your operation.
You can play the demo version for free at the Coffee Tycoon website. It has a good 
step-by-step tutorial and nice, cartoony graphics. If you want to upgrade to the full version, you can buy it online for $19.95… which makes it the cheapest coffee franchise we’ve found to date.
Check it out at the Coffee Tycoon website.
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Higher Grounds Shares Coffee Marketing Insights
Higher Grounds Coffee House was founded in 1996 and is owned and operated by John and Kim Richards, both of Fort Wayne, IN. In all, there are ten full service Higher Grounds locations and a few other limited menu locations in operation today.
John and Kim Richards recently gave a presentation at the trade show in Chicago, and posted the file on the Higher Grounds website. Click here to download the Higher Ground Powerpoint Presentation: 4 Steps to Finding & Keeping Your Customers.
The owners of the Higher Grounds in Fishers, IN are fighting to block a new Starbuck’s from having a drive-thru window (read about it here). While the newspaper calls them “franchisees” the Higher Grounds website has no mention of a franchise program, only that they’re seeking “partners.”
Does Higher Grounds offer franchises? We’ve emailed Higher Grounds to ask for a clarification, especially for our readers in the Indiana market. The Richards look like nice people who share two of our favorite passions: great coffee and strong marketing.
Are you familiar with Higher Grounds? Leave a comment; share your thoughts.