Biggby Coffee getting bigger

Mark Urban, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·4 min read

Jun. 22—TRAVERSE CITY — Biggby Coffee continues its rapid growth and northern Michigan is helping to fill the cup.

Headquartered in Lansing, Biggby Coffee will have a location in Kalkaska this summer and a fourth Traverse City location by the fall.

Dr. Andy and Victoria Long are opening a Biggby location at 556 S. Cedar St. in Kalkaska. "Hopefully we are open by the end of July," Victoria Long said.

John and MaryAnne MacIntosh are set to open their fourth TC location "late August-ish," she said. It will be located at 1100 W. South Airport Road, adjacent to the Burger King on the corner of Garfield Avenue.

Both of the new Biggby Coffee locations will be 396 square feet of building from Bcubed Manufacturing, which is delivered on site in sections. Both will offer drive-thru and walk-up service.

Victoria Long brings retail experience to ownership of the Biggby in Kalkaska. She has worked at the Lodi Trading Company in Kalkaska and her parents, Greg and Bonnie Fisher, own the Dublin General Store in Wellston.

Victoria Long said some online investigation led her to opening a Biggby Coffee.

"We just looked at different avenues of what's for sale around the area," she said. "We saw some restaurants for sale. We did a little research and decided not to go that route.

"We really liked what we found with Biggby Coffee. We like that they stood for something good. They have a great product, for one. They've got low start-up costs and we really love their coffee."

For MaryAnne and John MacIntosh, a fourth location in Traverse City was in the works when they opened at 4041 U.S. 31 South in November 2021. The other Traverse City Biggby Coffee locations are 1535 S. Division St., in Kids Creek Marketplace, and 748 Munson Ave. No. 3, in East Bay Plaza.

"We signed for two when we decided to go to Chum's Corner," MaryAnne MacIntosh said. "So now we have the four corners of Traverse City: East Bay, West Bay, Garfield and Chum's Corner."

The couple also own the Biggby Coffee franchise in Cadillac, located at 1818 N. Mitchell St.

"We're working on it," John MacIntosh said of the expansion into northern Michigan during a call Tuesday morning on speaker phone. "Getting great coffee to the people."

"Not just great coffee, great drinks," MaryAnne interjected.

The MacIntosh-owned franchises are under the direction of district manager Allison Bazuin. MaryAnne MacIntosh said Ana Reinke and daughter, Amber MacIntosh, serve as general managers while each location has as assistant manager.

While the Biggby location near the Menard's store is blue and orange, the new location in front of the Cherryland Center will be tan and orange.

MaryAnne MacIntosh said whether a Biggby location is drive-thru or sit-down, the store is all about giving back to the community. Biggby Coffee has also been known to do "business drops" of coffee, several of which are displayed on the store's Facebook page. MacIntosh said Biggby also participates in fundraisers through vouchers as well as sales of coffee and mugs.

She said Biggby sponsors a Michigan Amateur Hockey Association event on a local and national level and prepares packages for cancer patients going through treatment.

"That's the reason why I (go with) Biggby," she said. "Because I can give back with the life bags, the high schools and other things. There are a lot of community events that we do."

That was also one of the aspects that attracted Victoria Long to Biggby Coffee, she said.

"They have a good reputation for having good people," Victoria Long said. "The model they have and the people go beyond coffee."

To get ready for the opening of Biggby in Kalkaska, Victoria Long is going through five weeks of training in the Traverse City locations. She spent last week working at the Chum's Corner location and this week at Munson Avenue. The third week will be split at those two locations, followed by a week of management training.

The fifth week will be spent in a to-be-determined area in advance of the Kalkaska opening, MaryAnne MacIntosh said.

Then the Kalkaska Biggby will be ready to serve customers at the drive-thru and walk-up location.

"It's just the quickest way of getting people a cup of coffee," Victoria Long said. "That's our goal."

Biggby Coffee opened its first store on March 15, 1995. Biggby had more than 240 locations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Florida, according to a release from the company. The company had more than 100 locations in development as of late 2020.