ATLANTA, Georgia, USA – Corridor Coffee Club, an innovative community-driven program, launches with the mission of providing leverage to independent coffee shops in the Atlanta metro area as they compete against corporate coffee giants. With a focus on collective empowerment, the club aims to shine a light on the superior offerings of local purveyors and the unique experiences they offer their customers.
While a singled coffee chain dominates with 270+ locations raking in well over $200 million annually in metro Atlanta, the area’s 170 measured independent coffee shops brought in less than $70 million combined. These small businesses lack the unlimited budgets and multi-unit footprints of corporate chains, typically operating a single location on limited resources.
Corridor Coffee Club plans to help level the playing field. By treating independent shops as a unified collective, the program brings focused attention to the need for community support of these small businesses while spotlighting the quality of their services and unique guest experiences.
A core component is the innovative Digital Coffee Passport Program. Passport members receive one free coffee per month from participating locations, with most shops extending additional discounts. This provides consumers with amazing benefits while driving crucial revenue back into Atlanta’s independent coffee scene.
“The independent coffee culture in Atlanta is vibrant but often overshadowed by deep-pocketed corporate competition,” said Gerald Griffith, founder of Corridor Coffee Club. “Our aim is to divert a percentage of revenue currently going to large coffee chains back into this vital small business community.”
Griffith, an Army veteran, emphasizes the potential impact: “A mere 5% shift would represent over $10 million redirected back into independent coffee shops – representing an annual $63,000 increase per location based on 170 shops measured.”
Equally important is fostering a collaborative spirit, with the club encouraging independent shops to embrace unity over viewing each other as rivals. Participating locations incur no costs, simply providing one free monthly cup to Passport members, with many shops going further to extend a discount of up to 10% off purchases to Passport participants. Since the Passport Program is completely digital, there is no need to keep up with a paper booklet making it easy for users to access anytime.
The program’s success has been bolstered by support from key partners: Hatchbridge Incubator (Kennesaw State University), Fresh Start Cherokee Launchpad (Cherokee Office of Economic Development), and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (Syracuse University).
With its innovative model uniting independent coffee purveyors and incentivizing community support, Corridor Coffee Club offers an elevated experience for consumers while allowing Atlanta’s small coffee businesses to thrive.
