Biggby Coffee (pronounced "big B") is an American coffeehouse chain based in Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1995 in the city of

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

by Bob Fish and Mary Roszel as Beaner's Coffee. By the end of the 1990s, the company had three locations in Lansing, and began to expand during the 21st century by means of franchising. In 2007 and 2008, the chain was officially renamed Biggby Coffee due to corporate concerns over the meaning of the word "

beaner ''Beaner'' is a derogatory slur originally from the United States to refer to Mexican or Mexican American descent. Usage The word was first seen in print in 1966, although the term has reportedly been in use at least since the 1940s, having ...

"; the name Biggby was derived from the letter B in the company's logo. In 2022, the chain had over 280 locations throughout the United States.

History

Co-founders Bob Fish and Mary Roszel met while attending hospitality courses at Michigan State University, and first worked together as managers of a Lansing, Michigan-based restaurant chain known as the Flap Jack. The first location opened in April 1995 on Grand River Avenue in

, in a building previously occupied by an

Arby's Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, ''Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)". Arby ...

. Due to the success of the initial location, Fish and Roszel opened a second location in downtown Lansing, Michigan in 1997. One year later, they also opened a corporate office in Lansing, allowing for sales of bulk coffee and coffee preparation. Fish, Roszel, and Michael McFall (who was originally hired by Roszel as a

barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

in the first store) decided to franchise the company and founded Global Orange Development, LLC in June 1998. A third location opened in August 1999, also located on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing about east of the first. In the following four years, nine more locations were opened throughout

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. In late 2007, Fish announced that the chain would officially be renamed Biggby Coffee by January 2008. This decision was made due to concerns over the word "

" being a derogatory slang for Mexican people. Company representatives conducted brand research for a year prior to this change, and chose the name Biggby Coffee due to the "big B" in the company's logo. In August 2012, Roszel retired from the company after 17 years. Roszel was inducted by her Alma mater into Michigan State University's School of Hospitality Business Hall of Fame for her success with Biggby Coffee.

Awards and recognition

In September 2011, Biggby Coffee was named the fastest-growing coffee chain in America by

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

, which ranked the company number one based on their growth percentage from the previous year.

Growth

Biggby Coffee has over 280 stores open across 12 states:

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. In July 2011, the company officially released a "new store footprint" that reduced the cost of opening a franchise location by approximately 40 percent.

References

External links

* *Franchis
Website
{{Central Michigan Companies based in Lansing, Michigan Privately held companies based in Michigan Economy of the Midwestern United States Economy of the Southeastern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1995 1995 establishments in Michigan