Gloria Jean’s goes downtown

“We gambled and took the risk in investing on the area because apparently we believe that it will soon be developed so we wanted to establish our name here as early as possible to have a share in the coffee drinking market in the downtown area,” said OIC and Group Manager of Gloria Jean’s Mickey F. Supe in an interview with The Freeman.

Unknown to some, Gloria Jean’s Coffee is actually an international brand of coffee that has been in the business over 30 years and since then, it has become a global icon with stores in over 20 countries. In 1979, the first Gloria Jean’s Coffee shop was opened by Ed and Gloria Jean Kvetko in Chicago, USA and their unwavering commitment to serving fine gourmet coffees meant the Kvetko’s were held in high regard that franchising throughout the United States soon followed. And nearly 30 years later, Gloria Jean’s Coffees has stores across the globe that includes the Philippines which started in 2003 and now have over 25 branches nationwide.

In Cebu, Gloria Jean’s started 2005 at their first branch at the Banilad Town Center and now the franchisee decided to venture into the downtown area specifically in the new destination called the Boulevard. With future planned developments within the area like a call center, Gloria Jean’s is confident that sooner, Boulevard will become Cebu’s premier business district as they also plan to align their brand’s growth with its development.

“We are not yet as big as Starbucks but we are slowly getting there. We believe the area to be strategic and we are positive that it will develop into something big in the near future and will be part of our growth as an international brand as well,” said Supe.

But realizing a direct competitor with the local brand Bo’s, which is also in the immediate vicinity, Gloria Jean’s is confident to say that they have had penetrated a huge market share of their own since they started. And even if Cebu Doctor’s University is no longer operating in the area, Supe shared that they still got a good percentage of the coffee drinking populace in the vicinity like med reps, lawyers, doctors, employees and young executives who have come to like the quality of coffee they produce and have become their patrons.

With their growing network of stores around Vis-Min areas, Gloria Jean’s is preparing to venture yet another challenge and that is to conquer the malls. This October, they will introduce a new outlet in the extension of the SM City Cebu’s annex. Although they recognize the risks involved, according to Supe, their corporate office expressed positive outlooks that it will do well despite several competitors as feasibility studies have been conducted.

As makers of quality handmade coffee, from bean to cup, Gloria Jean’s Coffees is famous for their highest quality Arabica whole bean coffee that is hand picked and sorted at their own roasting facility. They locally roast by hand, creating proprietary roasts and blends, and all their baristas are professionally trained with a world class and accredited barista training program.– Rhia de Pablo