BEANER'S COFFEE to Open 10th Grand Rapids Location

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Grand Rapids, Mich., June 8, 2007 – BEANER’S COFFEE ® continues to build it’s presence in Grand Rapidswith the  opening of its 10^th Grand Rapids location.  The 1,800 square-foot store will open Monday, June 11 at 4750 Cascade Road SE, near Forest Hills Foods at the northeast corner of Cascade Road and Forest Hills Rd. intersection.  This marks the 69^th location within the fast-growing chain, which currently operates stores in nine states.

To celebrate its Grand Opening, BEANER’S is offering customers free brewed coffee all week long at the new Cascade Road location only.  The location features BEANER’S newest store design which creates a warm and personal ambiance with small tables, comfortable lounge seating.  The store also offers free wireless.

The store—open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday thru Friday, and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday—marks the second location for franchisee Steve Antaya.  The success of his Portland, Mich. location and his belief in the BEANER’S brand has led him to make plans to open an additional seven locations in Grand Rapids in the coming years.
“When you look at the BEANER’S brand, from our superior brewed coffee to the innovative new specialty drinks we constantly bring to the market, we’ve been able to differentiate ourselves from the numerous specialty coffee shops crowding the market,” said Antaya.  “Add to that the health and stability of the West Michigan market, and the brand equity we’ve already established, our expansion here makes a lot of sense.”

BEANER’S COFFEE continues its rapid accent as a national player in the gourmet coffee retail sector with a 53 percent increase in system wide sales in 2006— nearly half of that realized as new store growth. The franchise ended the year with 63 stores open and another 75 under contract; an accomplishment that had Entrepreneur magazine placing it among the top 500 franchise concepts in the United States for the year.

“We’ve had a tremendous year…actually, a tremendous decade,” said Bob Fish, founding partner of BEANER’S.  “An important piece of our success is predicated on finding smart, entrepreneurial partners in our owner operators, and needless to say we’ve found a great long-term partner in Steve. He is going to play a major role in our West Michigan expansion.”

The Specialty Coffee Association of America reports more than 30 percent growth in the retail coffee industry from 2002 to present.  In 2006 more than $12 billion of coffee was sold in the U.S. through a network of more than 23,000 retailers.

About BEANER’S COFFEE

East Lansing, Mich.-based BEANER’S COFFEE was founded in March 1995 and began franchise operations in 1999.  Today the Company has nearly 70 stores across nine states including Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina and Wisconsin.  BEANER’S features more than 30 gourmet coffee, fine tea and frozen drink selections in addition to an assortment of pastries and other fine eatables. For more information about BEANER’S® COFFEE, visit www.beaners.com.