PJ’s Coffee opens up a latte: New Orleans-based company continues surge across southeast with opening of 175th store

Photo caption: The new Pensacola, Florida franchise, which opened Aug. 25, is the third in that state. Photos courtesy PJ’s Coffee.

PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans continues to warm up its franchise expansion across the Southeastern U.S. region, recently opening its 175th store.

The new Pensacola, Florida franchise, which opened Aug. 25, is the third in that state, and is part of the company’s targeted push from its New Orleans origin into Texas and other surrounding Gulf states.

Although the company was on its way toward a 2019 expansion surge, it was stymied in the aftermath of COVID-19. That growth is rebounding in earnest in 2023, says David Mesa Jr., executive vice president and chief development officer for PJ’s Coffee. He says the company has awarded 263 franchise licenses with 109 of them in “active development,” or in some condition of permitting, design or construction.

“We’re averaging about three to four openings per month,” said Mesa. “We’re awarding three to four franchises per month. It’s been a very consistent, calculated growth mostly in the Southeast region. We’re real excited about the direction we’re going.”

Previously in August, the company opened two other locations: one in Fort Worth, Texas, and the other in Davenport, Iowa. By the end of this year, PJ’s will add 12 more stores to its franchise portfolio for a total of approximately 40 for all of 2023, Mesa said.

Louisiana has more than 100 PJ’s; Texas is growing

There are PJ’s Coffee locations in 14 U.S. states. Louisiana leads the way with 105 PJ’s Coffee locations with 61 locations in the greater New Orleans region, according to the company’s location website.

Texas is second with 28, followed by Mississippi with 14, Alabama, 7, South Carolina, 4,  Florida and Missouri, 3 each; Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, and New Jersey, 2 each; and Georgia, Iowa, and Tennessee, 1 each.

Mesa says Texas is where “a significant amount of our future growth is happening,” reporting that of the 12 stores opening in the remaining months of 2023, eight of them will be in Texas, including Edinburg, Victoria, Amarillo, west Leander, San Angelo, Pecos, and Missouri City.

“I think Texas is a natural progression,“ said Mesa. “Our brand really embraces the spirit of New Orleans, and there are so many transplants from New Orleans that somehow found their way into Texas. I think that as we began to target that market a couple years ago, a lot of the franchisees that have come on board really were aware of PJ‘s and were kind of rekindling that connection … I think that has kind of been the catalyst of that. Just like with all of the challenges we’ve had post-COVID, it’s just taken us longer to get those locations open.

“This year, in my opinion, has been the first year we’re really starting to pick up momentum,“ he said. “Right now we’ll open 37 to 40 locations this year, with expectations that we’ll be in 50 or 60 new openings for next year based upon our pipeline and what we have working.“

More than 30 licenses awarded in Florida; PJ’s Brewing toward east coast

In a press release, the company predicts Florida will be the next biggest state for growth with 30 new licenses awarded for markets such as Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach, and Naples, among others.

Beyond the Southeast growth, there is a company push to the East Coast in states such as Virginia and New Jersey, as well as Philadelphia. That expansion is a comfortable approach as Philadelphia is a second “headquarters” for PJ’s Coffee’s parent company, Covington-based Ballard Brands.

In July 2018, Ballard acquired Philadelphia-based Garces Restaurant Group. Ballard also retains a partnership with the Iron Chef- and James Beard Award-winning Latin-American chef, Jose Garces. He serves as chief culinary officer and co-owner in the Ballard Brands‘ fine dining division called IdEATion Hospitality, one of Ballard’s three divisions.

“Since we have an office out there, from a strategic point of view, it made sense for us to kind of leverage the resources in that facility to target that geographic area,“ said Mesa.

According to the company, Ballard Brands “has a restaurant portfolio that now includes five retail brands whose locations collectively total 165 in both traditional and non-traditional models, and operates and manages WOW Café: American Grill & Wingery, PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans, The Original City Diner, Boardhouse Serious Sandwiches and most recently, Garces Restaurant Group.

One of the appeals of the PJ’s Coffee brand, outside of its New Orleans hometown, is evocation of the New Orleans essence, Mesa says.

“I think for the Southeast region, New Orleans is absolutely a tourist hotspot,” he said. “When they’re in New Orleans, the premier coffee brand in the New Orleans market is PJ’s so inevitably at some point we cross paths.”

The sales pitch also is in the business name, Mesa said.

“Our brand name is PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans. (Tourists) associate New Orleans with good food and beverage and great hospitality. I think once they come in and are able to try our coffee and also our beignets — when you think about coming to New Orleans you think about coffee and beignets — I think that is something unique that you don’t necessarily get from any other concept. You don’t see a lot of beignet shops around the country.”

The next notch on the expansion benchmark is 500 locations in five years, said Mesa.

“We want it to be strong, steady, calculated growth in kind of the Southeast quadrant and up toward the north east, and I think that’s where you’ll see the majority of our growth in the coming years.”

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