FOR HOW LONG?
Since 1993. The first one they opened was in the Landing. “About the same time, we opened in the Landing, we also opened one in the BellSouth building.”
HOW MANY ARE THERE IN JACKSONVILLE?
Four: BellSouth, Bank of America tower, 841 Prudential building and First Union.
WHAT WAS THE NEED FOR A COFFEEHOUSE IN JACKSONVILLE?
“In 1993, when we moved here from the [Pacific] Northwest, we couldn’t get a good cup of coffee. I mean McDonald’s was the most consistent coffee we could get. We saw that this was a virgin market and untapped territory for coffeehouses. We did the first free standing coffeehouse in Jacksonville, excluding Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Company at the mall.”
HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT OPENING ONE?
“Since we are from the Northwest [Glenn is from Portland and Osgard is from Seattle], the concept of coffee and espresso bars or coffeehouses was not foreign to us. We decided to bring that concept here. We really wanted to make sure that we stayed true to a Northwest-style coffeehouse instead of trying to do it Southern style. A Southern coffeehouse would have been more retail-focused and we wanted to stay drink-focused. We don’t have sandwiches, soda or ice cream.”
WHAT DO THEY HAVE?
Various types of specialty gourmet coffee items, teas, smoothies and milkshakes and Sara Lee pastries.
WHY OPEN IN HIGH RISES?
“Our company motto is, ‘Turn ‘em and burn’em.’ The customers are in a hurry. They need to be able to come in, get something and get back to their desk. Most people have a 15-minute break and they have an elevator ride to factor into that time, so they need to get in and burn back out.”
OWNER OPERATOR PROGRAM
“We put the coffeehouse in and then we sell it,” said Glenn. “It is not a franchise; it is for someone that wants to be in the coffee business and wants the support we can offer with the Italia D’ Oro logo. When they choose to hang the logo and operate as an Italia D’ Oro, there are certain guidelines they must follow. They must buy the product through us and they must make the drinks the exact same way we do. They don’t have to stay an Italia D’ Oro after they buy the business, but if they do, they get certain buying power with our roaster and support from us.” They have opened about 35 Italia D’ Oro coffeehouses in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte and Barbados. “We still own four here in Jacksonville and one in Atlanta,” said Glenn.
WHAT DOES ITALIA D’ ORO MEAN?
Italian gold coffeehouse. “We use a roaster, Boyd Coffee in Portland and Italia D’ Oro is their registered trademark. We use it and have the licensing agreement to use it in the Southeast. We created the Italia D’ Oro Coffeehouse concept, they provide us with the product. Everything except the name is our concept, including the layout of the stores, uniforms our people wear, all the recipes and where we go into business. Our roaster does nothing but roast our coffee and provide us with the logo.”
NEW CONCEPT?
They opened a 200 square-foot sundry store in the 841 Prudential building, offering snack food, drinks, health and beauty items and cigarettes. “It’s our new side-by-side concept,” said Glenn. “It has everything from stamps to lottery to pantyhose.” They created a new corporation for the sundry store called Tower Amenity Shops of America. “We very much enjoy providing amenities for high-rise buildings. It is very easy to figure these people out. They all have a job and they all have money. It’s easier to be in a high-rise than it would be to be in a strip mall or shopping center.”
BEFORE THE COFFEEHOUSE?
Osgard opened wellness centers in high-rise buildings and Glenn was a hair stylist. “We were both in very people-oriented businesses,” said Glenn.
WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY LIKE?
Glenn leaves her house each morning by 6 a.m. to stop at the four locations to make sure they are open, well-stocked and ready for business. They do about 75 percent of their business by 10 a.m. The coffeehouses hours vary, but most are open from about 6:30 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. Osgard handles site selection, starts the process and then Glenn takes over operations. “We got a call from a lady in Memphis who said she has a high-rise and wanted to know if we were interested in opening a store there. Pete will travel to Memphis next week to look at the building, talk to the broker and try to get it pre-sold.”
FUTURE PLANS?
They have two downtown buildings targeted for coffeehouses, one with a sundry store.
WHAT DO THEY DO FOR FUN?
Go to the beach, renovate their house in Atlantic Beach and spend time with their four-year-old son, Jake.
CHANGES OVER LAST 10 YEARS?
“The coffee industry has evolved over the last 10 years,” said Osgard. “It’s not just us, it is staying with the times. It has evolved very much like the wine industry. If you compare us to the wine industry, the parallel is scary. It’s really for the finer tastes and indulgent. In the 1970s people would go for a drink at lunch, now they will go for a coffee. But, it’s not the slurp and burp coffee, it’s high grade coffee.”
—by Michele Newbern Gillis