Drive-up relief for serious caffeine junkies

November 15, 2007

Fast-growing national chain Cuppy's Coffee will be opening a drive-up stand at 4255 Tamiami Trail Monday.

Local franchisees Connie Harper and Phuong Atkins will be vending espresso drinks, smoothies, baked goods, and plain old American coffee, albeit made with real beans, rather than sawdust or whatever they're putting into supermarket blends these days.

Cuppy's is based in Fort Walton Beach and currently has about 60 locations scattered across the country, with many more in the pipeline.

Harper explained Cuppy's offers its franchisees a simple business concept -- customers want a tasty morning eye-opener without having to stand in line. Cuppy's offers coffee-bar quality at the speed of fast food.

The owners have been working on the deal all year, and had their own moments of caffeine withdrawal while persuading Charlotte County regulators that their two drive-up lanes wouldn't cause traffic problems.

They ultimately won their point. Harper noted the lesson here is that drive-up coffee establishments are still a novelty in Florida. Not so in the West, where she has family. "I think that there's a stand right in the middle of every shopping center parking lot," she said.

Interestingly, the stand is within a bean's throw of Dunkin' Donuts. This fact doesn't faze Harper at all -- different markets, different customers, she explained.

Full store here