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Diary of a Brand: Blank Street Coffee
Blank Street isn’t a coffee shop. It’s a thesis on the future of urban pickup and brand discovery.
I found out about Blank Street Coffee on Twitter.
Specifically, NYC-based friends tweeting that they were trying the coffeeshop that had appeared seemingly out of thin air.
And appear it has. After its founding in 2020, Blank Street now has north of 50 locations across NYC, London, Boston and DC, with ambitions to expand into the hundreds. Fortunate timing (many prime locations were vacant thanks to COVID19’s impact on hospitality) and a hefty fundraise (BSC has raised $67M from VC funds including General Catalyst and Tiger Global, real estate giant Tishman Speyer, and the founders of Allbirds, Harry’s, and Warby Parker) fueled much of that growth.
On the outside, Blank Street appears to be a modern coffeeshop. What makes Blank Street worthy of such rapid expansion?
Blank Street’s vision: somewhat cheaper coffee.
According to Blank Street, the brand’s founders Issam Freiha and Vinay Menda (who happen to be venture capitalists themselves) created the brand with a simple mission: to make good coffee cheaper.
“I noticed my friends going…
