7 Brew is a chain of drive-thru coffee spots. The local franchise group plan to open several locations in the near future in the Richmond region. (Courtesy 7 Brew)
A new-to-market coffee chain is aiming to open its first Richmond area location around Memorial Day, followed by a bigger push into the region.
Construction began this month on a 7 Brew coffee shop at 11 Le Gordon Drive in Midlothian. That from-scratch location is expected to be the first of five 7 Brew stores locally, most of which would be in Chesterfield.
The 7 Brew concept eschews indoor seating to focus on drive-thru service. The upcoming 500-square-foot Chesterfield outpost on Le Gordon is planned to feature two drive-thrus, a walk-up window and limited outdoor seating for roughly 10 to 15 people, according to local franchisee Brenda Creamer.
In addition to hot and iced coffee beverages, 7 Brew sells smoothies, teas, milkshakes, muffins and an in-house energy drink called 7 Energy.
Creamer’s local franchise group has a ground lease on the property and will own the coffee shop building. Creamer said her group is funding the construction but declined to share the cost of the investment.
Titan Construction Group is the project’s general contractor. Freeman Morgan is the architecture firm.
A rendering of the 7 Brew drive-thru coffee shop planned for 11 Le Gordon Drive in Chesterfield (BizSense file)
The shop’s landlord is Thalhimer Realty Partners, which recently bought the less-than-an-acre site for $1.2 million, according to a press release from the company. Kevin South and David Crawford, both of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled negotiations on the buyer side.
Creamer’s group anticipates it will open a total of five locations in the Richmond region over the next 12 months. The group has identified sites in Midlothian, Short Pump and on Hull Street and Courthouse roads for the remaining four cafes. Creamer said they would look to hire 40 employees for each location.
“We look at full-time and part-time people. The way we staff is everyone does a five-hour rotation. We don’t want people to burn out because it’s high energy and fast-paced,” Creamer said. “It’s not a typical drive-thru. You could be five cars deep but if your coffee is ready we’ll bring it out to you.”
Brenda Creamer
Creamer declined to share the specific locations of the other cafes, but said in an interview earlier this month that the group was close on finalizing agreements to secure the sites.
Late last year, the 7 Brew franchisees were scoping out both the Le Gordon site (referred to as 101 Le Gordon Drive in county records) as well as 11601 Midlothian Turnpike, a former T-Mobile near Chesterfield Towne Center that was once eyed for a medical cannabis dispensary. Creamer said the Midlothian Turnpike spot was still being considered for a 7 Brew location.
Creamer’s group has the franchise rights for the Richmond and Petersburg areas. Creamer has two co-owners in the local franchise but she declined to name them.
Creamer, who has a background in human resources, said she and her partners were looking for a business to franchise when a friend flagged 7 Brew as an option for them to look into.
“We definitely were looking for something to call our own, if you will,” Creamer said. “We thought their brand was great and their mission and their interest in cultivating kindness.”
The first 7 Brew coffee stand opened in February 2017 in Arkansas. The company is named for the number of coffee drinks on the menu when it first launched.
The Fayetteville, Arkansas-based company had about 180 locations in 26 states as of last week, according to a company spokeswoman.
It cost $900,000 to $1.8 million to establish a single 7 Brew location, which the company calls “stands,” according to the spokeswoman.
Other 7 Brew locations in Virginia are in Newport News and Harrisonburg.
7 Brew is a chain of drive-thru coffee spots. The local franchise group plan to open several locations in the near future in the Richmond region. (Courtesy 7 Brew)
A new-to-market coffee chain is aiming to open its first Richmond area location around Memorial Day, followed by a bigger push into the region.
Construction began this month on a 7 Brew coffee shop at 11 Le Gordon Drive in Midlothian. That from-scratch location is expected to be the first of five 7 Brew stores locally, most of which would be in Chesterfield.
The 7 Brew concept eschews indoor seating to focus on drive-thru service. The upcoming 500-square-foot Chesterfield outpost on Le Gordon is planned to feature two drive-thrus, a walk-up window and limited outdoor seating for roughly 10 to 15 people, according to local franchisee Brenda Creamer.
In addition to hot and iced coffee beverages, 7 Brew sells smoothies, teas, milkshakes, muffins and an in-house energy drink called 7 Energy.
Creamer’s local franchise group has a ground lease on the property and will own the coffee shop building. Creamer said her group is funding the construction but declined to share the cost of the investment.
Titan Construction Group is the project’s general contractor. Freeman Morgan is the architecture firm.
A rendering of the 7 Brew drive-thru coffee shop planned for 11 Le Gordon Drive in Chesterfield (BizSense file)
The shop’s landlord is Thalhimer Realty Partners, which recently bought the less-than-an-acre site for $1.2 million, according to a press release from the company. Kevin South and David Crawford, both of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled negotiations on the buyer side.
Creamer’s group anticipates it will open a total of five locations in the Richmond region over the next 12 months. The group has identified sites in Midlothian, Short Pump and on Hull Street and Courthouse roads for the remaining four cafes. Creamer said they would look to hire 40 employees for each location.
“We look at full-time and part-time people. The way we staff is everyone does a five-hour rotation. We don’t want people to burn out because it’s high energy and fast-paced,” Creamer said. “It’s not a typical drive-thru. You could be five cars deep but if your coffee is ready we’ll bring it out to you.”
Brenda Creamer
Creamer declined to share the specific locations of the other cafes, but said in an interview earlier this month that the group was close on finalizing agreements to secure the sites.
Late last year, the 7 Brew franchisees were scoping out both the Le Gordon site (referred to as 101 Le Gordon Drive in county records) as well as 11601 Midlothian Turnpike, a former T-Mobile near Chesterfield Towne Center that was once eyed for a medical cannabis dispensary. Creamer said the Midlothian Turnpike spot was still being considered for a 7 Brew location.
Creamer’s group has the franchise rights for the Richmond and Petersburg areas. Creamer has two co-owners in the local franchise but she declined to name them.
Creamer, who has a background in human resources, said she and her partners were looking for a business to franchise when a friend flagged 7 Brew as an option for them to look into.
“We definitely were looking for something to call our own, if you will,” Creamer said. “We thought their brand was great and their mission and their interest in cultivating kindness.”
The first 7 Brew coffee stand opened in February 2017 in Arkansas. The company is named for the number of coffee drinks on the menu when it first launched.
The Fayetteville, Arkansas-based company had about 180 locations in 26 states as of last week, according to a company spokeswoman.
It cost $900,000 to $1.8 million to establish a single 7 Brew location, which the company calls “stands,” according to the spokeswoman.
Other 7 Brew locations in Virginia are in Newport News and Harrisonburg.
Would be a great concept to bring to Varina and Route 5 for all the people who drive from 295 into the city.
Can’t wait to try this! Great alternative to Starbucks. Go Brenda!
Short Pump needs this alternative to *bucks and DD!!
Coffee is good but no inside seating is so strange!
In Washington State, drive-thru only espresso joints are very popular and commonplace. From the suburbs to backwood podunks. You can witness cubicle livestock to logging truck drivers to mountain bound dirtbags all grabbing their coffee of choice before once again hitting the road, because they all got other, if not better, places to be, than what amounts to a Publix parking lot.
The use of Fourbucks’ very own predatory store placement methodology against them is admirable (in the map, there is a Fourbucks across the 60). IMO, any competitor for them is very welcomed. Perhaps unknown to many millennial or generation Z Fourbucks patrons is the fact that beginning in the mid to late 90’s Fourbucks would go an aggressive expansion spree that would place their stores as close as possible to existing successful cofeehouses, many of them independent small business, ultimately driving them under.
That being said, Karmaccinos are best served plentifully.
I’m looking forward to enjoying my coffee with Creamer.