‘Seeing coffee differently.’ Gregorys Coffee founder sets sights on brand’s Tacoma debut
The founder and CEO of Gregorys Coffee says it was not a random choice to bring his New York-based coffee chain to Tacoma.
In a recent interview with The News Tribune, Gregory Zamfotis said that Gregorys entered into a “strategic” partnership with Simon Property Group, “and they had opportunities in a number of the properties across the country to sort of take former Starbucks spaces and convert them into Gregorys.”
Tacoma Mall is one of Simon’s properties. The former Starbucks at Tacoma Mall moved to a new location at 4201 S. Steele St. in January.
The News Tribune reported Aug. 2 that Gregorys Coffee is planning to open in the mall’s former Starbucks space, and it will be the brand’s second store in Washington state.
Given the pace of permitting and working with both the city and local health department, Zamfotis estimates the Tacoma opening could be early October, though that could change.
Zamfotis started Gregorys in 2006, with a first location in Manhattan. Since then, it has grown to more than 40 locations in the United States. In late June, it opened its first Washington state location in Kennewick in the former Starbucks spot in the Columbia Center mall food court.
He told The News Tribune he was interested in Tacoma “for a number of reasons,” starting with his own local connections, along with visits to Seattle for industry trade shows.
When it comes to traveling, he added that “I’ve probably been to Seattle more than any other major city in the country over the course of my career.”
“I love the area. I love the market,” he said. “There’s people that I used to work with in coffee that are based in Tacoma. They’ve started to see the ‘Coming Soon’ signs and are texting me ... I haven’t spoken to some of these people in a really long time, so it’s been really nice to see a buzz building.”
As for more locations, he said the company is focused on the Simon project and other mall openings elsewhere.
“I think the longer term plan is to fill out these markets with more traditional Gregorys stores. So not just mall properties, but street stores, drive-thrus, strip centers, downtowns,” he said.
The company is working its way toward Seattle — Starbucks’ home turf — and, as he describes, adding to the area’s “rich coffee heritage.”
“We’ve always likened ourselves to having that sort of broad mass appeal, even though we do consider ourselves specialty coffee,” he said. “We do offer a lot of the convenience and bells and whistles that you find in more of the national chains, through our apps or ordering ahead or delivery.
“But then we have a lot of the quality and boutique elements that you’ll find in more of the smaller mom-and-pop sites.”
When asked what final message he wanted readers to know about his company, he paused.
“Our mission statement is to challenge the status quo by seeing coffee differently,” he said. “And to us, that really is sort of how we approach coffee, how we approach the customer experience, and trying to make unexpectedly special experiences in environments that you might not expect.”
