Greenberry's Coffee Co. Founder & CEO Sean Simmons Joined Jerry Miller On The I Love CVille Show!

Sean Simmons, the Founder & CEO of Greenberry’s Coffee at Barracks Road and Greenberry’s Coffee Roasters, joined us on The I Love CVille Show!

Here are some of the topics we covered:

(1). Sean and his wife, Roxanne, launched Greenberry’s in 1992 out of the McIntire Office Park. That’s where their first coffee roaster was located. Then, they opened their Barracks Road Shopping Center location shortly thereafter. We discussed and spotlighted the “birth story” of Greenberry’s Coffee Co. with Sean.

(2). We covered the trials and tribulations during the early years of Greenberry’s Coffee, including how they used a beat-up Honda Civic to shuttle their coffee from roasting facility to restaurants and other clients.

(3). We analyzed how Sean and Greenberry’s have expanded to other locations like: University of Virginia, The Center in Charlottesville, Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, Greenberry’s Coffee – E Street in Washington DC, Greenberrys Harrisonburg, Greenberry’s Coffee Japan, Greenberry’s Saudi Arabia, Greenberry’s Qatar and other domestic and international markets. The meteoric rise of the Greenberry’s Coffee Co. brand has truly been astonishing!

(4). Sean recently negotiated a deal to wholesale Greenberry’s Coffee to Costco locations, including Costco CVille. We discussed the mechanics of this deal with Sean, including how the deal came to fruition and the level of difficulty in meeting Costco’s large demand.

(5). We asked Sean what it’s like to launch and operate a business with his intelligent wife, Roxanne, who is Sean’s partner in business and partner in life. Roxanne and Sean were there from Day One and actively still manage the day-to-day of the business.

(6). We asked Sean if Charlottesville, Virginia is a better place today than when he first arrived in CVille almost 30 years ago.

(7). We analyzed Sean’s international expansion strategy, including whether he’s open-minded to franchising the roasting operations to a hand-picked roaster in Europe, the Middle East or Asia.

How cool would it be if a Charlottesville-based company like Greenberry’s has a powerhouse roasting facility in Europe, the Middle East or Asia?!?!

(8). I asked Sean how you take a business from infancy to small cap to mid cap to the large cap company he owns today. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner, Sean will offer you valuable advice and insight here. We can learn a lot from his journey in business.

(9). We will spotlight Sean’s willingness to pivot or change his strategies. Greenberry’s is often trying new things and pivoting its model to further please its loyal customers. I would like to analyze this approach with Sean.

(10). I will ask Sean about the next 25 years. What’s the next 25 years look like for Greenberry’s Coffee Co??

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