Coffee as Ecommerce (Podcast)

Coffee shops were among the dining concepts hard hit by the pandemic. In this episode of The Main Course host Barbara Castiglia learns from Nick Stone, Founder and CEO of Bluestone Lane Coffee, about how the brand adapted and pivoted.

Stone opened the coffee shop in 2013. A former athlete and investment banker, he loved the competitiveness and collaboration in both arenas. 

“To deliver a premium service in a very consistent way, you have to have that ethos that you’re continually improving,” Stone said. “It’s incremental gains every single day. It’s very akin to being a part of a high-performing sports team, where you’re training every day to improve, and you try to find an edge.”

With lost revenue initially, Stone laid off 650 employees as their revenue plummeted 91 percent. But, as the company pivoted to an e-commerce model, it grew its revenue by 260 percent. One of the things that helped them during this was their new subscription model. With the revenue increase, they plan to reopen their 51 stores and continue their expansion plans.

A new episode of The Main Course, our podcast series with MarketScale, is served up every Tuesday and Thursday.