The coffee chain’s Managing Director Stefan Tewes says the US market is the ‘benchmark’ for coffee shop operators and will enable Coffee Fellows to explore drive-thru for the first time
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A Coffee Fellows store at Heidelberg Station, Germany | Photo credit: Coffee Fellows
Germany’s Coffee Fellows will make its US debut in 2023 with three stores in Houston, Texas, including the company’s first drive-thru outlet.
The Munich-based coffee chain will then open up to 25 outlets across Texas by the end of 2024, including in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Coffee Fellows, which anticipates annual sales of up to €1m ($1.1m) per US store, plans to open further stores in other US states in 2025.
Managing Director Stefan Tewes said the US represents ‘the benchmark for every coffee shop operator’ and provides an opportunity for the coffee chain to ‘do things differently in a new market environment’.
Tewes also highlighted higher dependence on driving in the US compared to Germany, adding that Coffee Fellows is planning to open drive-thru stores in the US, which it could learn from and potentially introduce to its European stores.
Launched in 1999, Coffee Fellows currently operates 240 stores across Germany and manages a further 19 outlets across Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.
The Munich-based coffee chain has agreed a joint venture with an unnamed US partner for its US expansion. Coffee Fellows holds a 30% share.