The caffeine is flowing at Classic Rock Coffee LLC. The Springfield location – 1900 W. Sunset Ave. – opened its new roasting room with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 16.
The coffeehouse features a seating area so customers can watch the company’s roasting process in action. Its centerpiece is a $70,000 Probat coffee bean roaster, capable of producing 25,000 pounds of roasted coffee a month.
The recent expansion follows Classic Rock Coffee’s July 2014 addition of The Club, a 2,500-square-foot live performance venue, Director of Franchising Operations Brett Payne said.
Payne said the roasting room - which cost $20,000 - is the result of customer demand voiced after the company replaced a roaster formerly located inside the store about a year ago. The new, larger model had to be housed in a warehouse section, and coffee drinkers curious about the roasting process noticed its absence.
“People would ask all the time, ‘Where’s the roaster at?’ It was kind of part of our DNA,” said Payne, adding the previous unit was sent to the company’s location in Islamabad, Pakistan. “People couldn’t see it anymore, and that was really part of the appeal of being a high-end coffeehouse, being able to see that entire process.”
Payne declined to disclose current revenue, but according to
Springfield Business Journal archives, the company, founded in 2011 by Kent Morrison, recorded $390,000 in 2012 revenue.
“People who are wanting to invest in business, they’re very well aware that the coffee business is stable,” said Payne, who explained another driving force behind the expansion is interest and anticipated growth of U.S. and overseas franchising. “It’s the second most-traded commodity in the world, other than oil, so there’s not a lot of concern about putting coffeehouses in. There’s a great demand for that.”
The coffee shop near the southwest corner of the Sunset Avenue and Kansas Expressway intersection is the company’s headquarters. Classic Rock Coffee also operates stores in Fargo, N.D., and East Haven, Conn., as well as Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan. Eleven other stores are scheduled to open in the U.S. and abroad, according to the company’s website.
The roasting room is available to rent for company excursions, private tastings and educational sessions. Payne said tour attendees assist in roasting coffee and setting up and completing a tasting.
The company also is introducing a new wholesale brand for local hotels, restaurants and businesses called Contender Coffee.[[In-content Ad]]
