Business is already booming for the newly opened Piñon Coffee at 1761 NM 528, in the former Starbucks building across the street from Intel.
Piñon Coffee President Matthew Bregar said finding the space was a real plus when it came to locating on the West Side.
“We’ve been putting out these little surveys at different events over the past two years, and one of the questions was, ‘Where would you like to see another location?'” Bregar said. “The overwhelming response has been somewhere on the West Side.”
According to Bregar, Piñon Coffee’s third location comes at a cost of nearly $200,000, which is about $100,000 cheaper because the building was already equipped for a coffee company.
“What a perfect opportunity to go into a place that was already a coffee business in an established location for 12 years,” he said.
Another blessing, Bregar said, was the turnaround on investment because the building didn’t need a complete renovation.
“We basically could take and use all of the existing plumbing and electrical, plus this place already had a drive-through,” he said. “Everything here seemed to line up perfectly, so we just went for it gung-ho.”
Bregar said he brought on 22 people at full- and part-time positions.
“Most of those jobs are going to be full-time, and this is by far our biggest location in terms of staffing,” he said.
Piñon Coffee did a soft opening last Sunday, announcing it was open only on social media.
“This weekend just absolutely blew our doors off,” Bregar said. “We are anticipating a good turnout from now on.”
Piñon Coffee is doing its grand opening for the new location Thursday, after Balloon Fiesta, he said.
“The only thing that is not complete on the building right now are three digital menu boards that are supposed to hang behind the front counter,” Bregar said.
As for products, he said the Rio Rancho location already has everything the other two Albuquerque locations have and is fully stocked.
“I think now more than anytime, local businesses have a sense of pride in their products,” he said. “There’s just something special about being local and being from New Mexico.”
