Another beverage chain founded in Oregon is going public.
Black Rock Coffee Bar, which was founded in 2008 as a drive-thru-only concept in Beaverton, Oregon, earlier this week filed its registration statement for an upcoming initial public offering.
The now-Arizona-based company is aiming for a reported valuation of $1 billion and plans to list on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BRCB. The IPO’s sponsor is The Cynosure Group, a Salt Lake City-based investment firm that took a stake in Black Rock in 2020.
The company has doubled its unit count since then and now operates 158 shops, all of which are company-owned, and fewer of which are drive-thru-only. Three-quarters of those shops feature lobbies, and the company said that it plans to build stores with lobbies from here on. The company’s locations are primarily in the West and Southwest.
Black Rock, assuming it eventually does go public, would bring with it a track record of revenue growth, including strong same-store sales this year, along with narrowing losses. The company generated $95 million in revenue in the first half of this year, up 25% compared with the same period as last year.
It also reported a net loss of $1.9 million, or about 2% of revenues, compared with a loss of $2.3 million, or 3% of sales—continuing a trend of narrowing losses in recent years.
Same-store sales have also been strong. The key metric has risen at least 8.6% in each of the past four quarters, including 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the filing. Store-level profits rose 28% in the first half. Adjusted EBITDA was $14 million in the first half of the year, or 14.8% of sales, up 30% over last year.
The company could be hoping for a Dutch Bros-like surge. That chain—which has also recently moved to Arizona from Oregon—was larger when it went public in 2021. But system sales at the chain have grown 99% since then, including consistent growth in unit volumes.
Black Rock would give the public markets its third beverage brand, after Starbucks and Dutch Bros, at a time when beverages are increasingly popular.
But Black Rock has evolved into a more traditional concept with its lobbies. The chain gets 59% of its sales from coffee, and another 22% from its “Fuel” energy drinks—though that percentage grew to 24% in the first half of this year. It also gets 11% of its sales from food.
And 73% of the chain’s sales come before noon. Unit volumes average $1.2 million, though they generate 22% store-level profits and a cash-on-cash return of 40%.
The company gets 15% of its sales through digital channels, and two-thirds of its sales come from members of its loyalty program. Its CEO is Mark Davis, a former executive with Panera Bread.
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