Philz Coffee

Philz Coffee is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain based in San Francisco, California, considered a major player in third wave coffee.^[1] Philz Coffee focuses on making drip coffee.

Philz Coffee has 36 locations spread amongst the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and most recently Washington, DC.

History

Original Philz storefront on 24th Street in the Mission District.

Phil Jaber founded Philz Coffee in 2002. Phil operated a corner grocery in San Francisco’s Mission District for over 25 years and had strong ties to the community.^[2] Having always had an interest in coffee, Phil began experimenting with different coffee beans from around the world to create over 30 unique coffee blends. Each blend ranges from 2 to as many as 7 different beans from around the world. He visited hundreds of coffee shops to study customer interactions. He believed coffee had a strong social component and wanted to create a place where people could come together to socialize, exchange ideas and feel comfortable. Phil began making his regular customers cups of coffee and finishing the cup with a mint leaf. He soon had a cult-like following among San Francisco locals. In 2003, Phil converted his corner store into the 1st Philz Coffee location where it remains as the company’s flagship store.

In 2005, Phil’s son, Jacob Jaber, took over operation and became the company’s CEO, taking the lead on expansion and building the company’s internal structure.^[3]

Philz Coffee secured a round of funding in 2013 by Summit Partners^[4] and a few private investors to expand into new markets, leading to the first Philz Coffee outside the Bay Area in Santa Monica California.^[5] They also secured a Series B in February 2015 in order to help them expand worldwide.^[6]

See also

• List of coffeehouse chains

References