Sitting in his office in Omaha, Nebraska, Aaron Hoffman can tell you which ZIP code in Northeast Florida is most ready for a new coffee shop.
As Hoffman toggles between options on the right side of his computer screen, the locations of competitors to his brand, Scooter’s Coffee, appear on the screen. Hoffman, sharing his screen on a Google Meet video call, fiddles some more, and traffic patterns, consumer metrics and other data is displayed.
Hoffman is vice president of franchise sales for Omaha-based Scooter’s, one of several quick service restaurant coffee shops popping up around Northeast Florida.
QSR coffee shops rely on drive-thru traffic rather than a cafe environment and are capturing an increasing share of the market, taking larger percentages of sales from traditional competitors like Starbucks and Dunkin’.
Brands like Scooter’s, including Dutch Bros, 7 Brew, Ellianos Coffee and Boost Coffee & Energy, are expanding across Northeast Florida, with more than two dozen locations open or planned in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
“Coffee is one of the most habitual categories in QSR,” Hoffman said.
“We see it as part of people’s daily routine, not an occasional purchase. So once we’ve made that connection, that’s where the justification to spend more, to enjoy that experience is where it comes from.”
Scooter’s, like other QSR brands, operates stand-alone, drive-thru-only kiosks; drive-thru only “endcap” locations in shopping centers; and operations within hotels, zoos, stadiums and other venues.
At up to 900 square feet in size, they are typically a fraction of the size of a typical restaurant. The freestanding kiosks often are on less than an acre.
Demographic drivers
In 2023, Forbes reported that only 3% of Jacksonville homes did not have access to a car, with one of the nation’s lowest “walk scores” among major cities. For drive-thru operations like Scooter’s, that plays right into its market.
“The growth strategy that I brought in … is going away from, let’s say, Miami to what I would call more secondary, tertiary markets,” Hoffman said.
“That’s where we see a lot of how Scooter’s can perform the best in these smaller markets, less competition, less cost and you have the greater ability to saturate with multiple stores.”
Drive-thru sales represent 55% of coffee shop revenue, according to a corporate presentation by Boost.
“Traditional coffee giants (Starbucks + Dunkin’) total (about) 40,000 US stores, while new drive-thru concepts have under 2,000 locations combined,” the presentation says.
Boost predicts the markets will merge over the next 15 years as consumers seek “both convenience and health-conscious options.”
Scooter’s competes with Dutch Bros, 7 Brew, Ellianos and the soon-to-debut Boost Coffee & Energy, based in Jacksonville and founded by Mike Murray and Joe Herlihy.
Dutch Bros and 7 Brew did not respond to multiple interview requests for this report.
Rapid expansion
Dutch Bros, based in Tempe, Arizona, has five locations in Northeast Florida with 15 total planned.
7 Brew, headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, has five Northeast Florida locations with nine total planned. Boost Coffee is planning three locations in Northeast Florida, with the first set to open in May. Lake City-based Ellianos Coffee has 10 locations in Northeast Florida with as many as 18 total planned.
Scooter’s Coffee has three coffee franchises in Northeast Florida – one on Beach Boulevard, one on New Berlin Road in Jacksonville and one on Park Avenue in Orange Park, with no public plans for further development.
Some franchisees see more locations in their future.
“I’m thinking about it,” said Dorie Robinson, franchisee of the New Berlin Road Scooter’s. “Five years from now, I’ll probably own at least four Scooter’s.”
Robinson, who opened her Scooter’s in April 2024, said she saw coffee as the nation’s second-most-popular commodity, behind oil.
Scott Snyder, CEO of Hawaii-based Bad Ass Coffee, said in QSR Magazine that coffee consumption was “remarkably inelastic.”
“Even during downturns, guests may trade down elsewhere before they’ll give up their daily cup. That habitual behavior creates consistent traffic patterns, dependable revenue, and stronger lifetime customer value compared to many traditional food concepts,” Snyder wrote.
“For operators, this translates into more resilient unit economics and greater confidence in long-term performance.”
As for running a QSR-style restaurant over a traditional Dunkin’ or Starbucks, operators often see lower costs.
“It’s simple economics,” Hoffman said. “You’re managing 667 square feet versus up to 5,000 in a cafe-style. So the cost … it’s reduced given the smaller space and footprint.”
Lower building costs create efficient business model
The smaller footprint of QSR options makes them easier, and cheaper, to build out than full-size cafés. Additionally, smaller footprints make it easier for QSR restaurants to find new locations, said Eric Heninger, a University of North Florida adjunct professor who specializes in real estate.
“Smaller footprints are crucial to a franchisee in two ways: profitability and site selection. Smaller stores equal lower development and occupancy costs, both of which shorten that critical path to profitability,” Heninger wrote in an email.
“When selecting sites, smaller space requirements can open up your pool of potential locations, dramatically.”
While real estate costs may not be cheaper, building costs add to franchises’ profitability, said Heninger.
“The buildings are nominally cheaper, but the land is not. High-performing drive-thru sites still command a premium, so any savings come from design and construction, not necessarily the real estate,” Heninger wrote.
“In Jacksonville, larger operators are more likely to pursue ground-up development or long-term ground leases, while smaller entrants tend to lease existing sites with lower capital investment.”
Regulars, rewards boosts
Robinson said she generated sales of about $1.3 million in 2025, her second year in business, with $800,000 in expenses. After other franchising fees, Robinson personally netted around $125,000.
Much of Robinson’s sales, she said, were driven by customer loyalty. Nearly 90% of her customers were regulars she estimated she saw about six times a week. She saw about 20 customers three times a day – people who work from home, just wanting to get out of the house for a cup of coffee.
“Our coffee shop is situated in the heart of the community,” said Robinson, whose franchise is at the corner of New Berlin and Yellow Bluff roads, a heavily traveled Northside intersection.
“There are so many subdivisions around, so our customers are not commuters. They live here.”
Robinson has new competition across the street, as Dunkin’ opened a few months ago. Sometimes, she said, customers will purchase doughnuts from Dunkin’ before coming to her franchise for coffee.
Robinson has been urging Scooter’s corporate office to roll out the brand’s own line of doughnuts to compete.
Scooter’s and other coffee brands use rewards systems to generate customer loyalty. “We make it fun, interactive, sort of gamified,” Hoffman said. “There’s daily incentives.”
Scooter’s rewards have gained a cult following, Hoffman said. He said he has seen the coffee brand’s line of “‘Licious Creatures” stuffed animals, given away free at Scooter’s locations, sell for $500 each on EBay. On April 3, several were selling on the platform for more than $60 each.
Other rewards include free or discounted drinks, drink modifiers like cold foam and extra espresso shots and more.
“Just fun, sort of frequent reminder, frequent incentivization and frequent fun with (rewards),” Hoffman said.
“For the owners, discounted or free drinks get people coming back.”
Expansion slowing nationally
The heyday of Scooter’s franchise sales came during the pandemic, Hoffman said, when the company opened 200 to 300 units annually.
With about 900 franchises at last count, Scooter’s is slowing its growth to open 75 to 100 stores annually over the next five years, he said.
Hoffman said Scooter’s turns away interested franchisees monthly.
“My take on that, and how I lead the sales organization, is quality versus quantity, not selling everywhere to everyone,” Hoffman said.
“Bringing in owners that are going to open their store within 18 months, that are going to perform, take the playbook and run with it vs. people doing it just to sort of do it.”
Scooter’s, Hoffman said, uses the acronym “VAST” to determine ideal locations for its franchises – visibility, access, signing and traffic. That means Scooter’s is placing its stores where potential customers can both see and reach the location.
“If there’s a Walmart nearby, we’re going to put it (there), because we know that people are driving by the Walmart, and they’re going to swing by the Scooter’s,” Hoffman said.
That viewpoint is not universal. Murray and Herlihy see large potential growth in the coffee market for their Boost Coffee & Energy franchises, with plans to expand to 450 stores nationwide by 2030. Murray and Herlihy’s business, unlike many other coffee shops, are focused on selling healthy alternatives, not just coffee and snacks.
While Scooter’s is pulling back its openings, Hoffman saw opportunity for growth in Northeast and Central Florida on his interactive map. Hoffman and his team look at competition, parcel sizes for franchises, diversity of retail in the area, real estate and construction costs.
“As we kind of trickle down the eastern coast of Florida … I’m looking at the screen, there’s an immense amount of opportunistic markets layered in,” Hoffman said.
“Based on the weave in of what we call our ideal customer profile, knowing in these markets, the people who buy from us and their demographics are strong. There’s a lot of places to build, and I think you’ll continue to see that.”