Case
| HBS Case Collection
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December 2018
(Revised December 2019)
Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters
Alexander MacKay and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they had opened their first custom-designed store in a brand-new luxury apartment building. The new store was an immediate success, even though a Starbucks had recently opened across the street. At the same time, a separate business line—selling cold brew coffee in kegs to office customers—had grown unexpectedly. Many new office accounts were added, even as the team promoted the new retail store. Now, as Peck, Damiano, and Martin prepared for the next capital raise, targeted for February 2017, they evaluated their strategy going forward. Should Commonwealth Joe stay with retail, or should they shift their strategy to focus on the office business?
Keywords: cold brew coffee;
specialty coffee;
on-premise coffee market;
retail expansion strategy;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Model;
Brands and Branding;
Expansion;
Strategy;
Decision Making;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Retail Industry;