It's A Grind Coffee House vs Second Cup Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of It's A Grind Coffee House vs Second Cup including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
It's A Grind Coffee House Franchise
Second Cup Franchise
Investment $173,150 - $473,000$300,000 - $500,000
Franchise Fee $15,000 - $25,000$25,000
Royalty Fee 6%7.5%
Advertising Fee 2%2%
Year Founded 19951975
Year Franchised 20001975
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Renewal Fee $2.5K-


Business Experience Requirements
 
It's A Grind Coffee House Franchise
Second Cup Franchise
Experience
  • General business experience
  • Strong people skills
    		• Personality - You like making people feel good. You’re patient, understanding, easy to talk to and outgoing. Experience - You have at least 5 years of business management, retail or hospitality experience and a sound understanding of financials. Leadership - You can hire, train, organize and inspire a barista team to give their best efforts every day.

    Financing Options
     
    It's A Grind Coffee House Franchise
    Second Cup Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/Yes-/-
    Start-up Costs No/Yes-/-
    Equipment No/Yes-/-
    Inventory No/Yes-/-
    Receivables No/No-/-
    Payroll No/No-/-

    Training & Support
     
    It's A Grind Coffee House Franchise
    Second Cup Franchise
    Training Additional training as needed-
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives-
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks, Regional advertising-
    Operations 40% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 12 - 15

    Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    		-

    Expansion Plans
     
    It's A Grind Coffee House Franchise
    Second Cup Franchise
    US Expansion Yes-
    Canada Expansion NoYes
    International Expansion NoYes

    Company Overviews

    About It's A Grind Coffee House

    Husband-and-wife team Marty Cox and Louise Montgomery opened the first It's A Grind coffee shop in Long Beach, California, in 1995. Locations feature a blues and jazz theme, and wingback chairs that allow customers to relax while enjoying whole bean coffees, espresso drinks, teas, pastries, muffins and bagels.
    It’s A Grind is a specialty coffee house concept established in 1994 to provide high quality gourmet coffee, espresso beverages, better for you healthy cold drinks, range of home baked foods in a comfortable, community-focused neighborhood environment.
    Our coffee houses are independent, well connected and free spirited.
    Our range of coffee credible merchandise and quirky trinkets and treasures creates an It’s A Grind coffee house experience that promotes a free spirited attitude.

    About Second Cup

    Second Cup Coffee Co.™ is Canada’s largest specialty coffee retailer. From our humble beginnings in 1975 as a kiosk in a shopping mall, selling only whole bean coffee, we have continued towards our goal of being the Canadian specialty coffee brand of choice. For us, that means putting coffee at the core of business, focusing on quality, innovation and creating an individual experience for our customers.

    In addition to coffee-based beverages, Second Cup cafés carry a variety of complimentary products, including fresh locally baked goods and Better For You smoothies. Recently, we’ve introduced Pinkberry® frozen yogurt into cafés across the country and Second Cup has the exclusive rights to this category in Canada.


    "Top

    #49 in Canada's Top franchises.