Summer 2022 Brings 2 New Locations for Exit 11 Coffee

It is the Summer of 2022 and Exit 11 Coffee is going through a growth spurt. Right now it seems like things are happening very quickly, with two new drive-thru locations opening within weeks of each other and several opportunities on the horizon.  

In reality, it took many years of brainstorming, networking and entrepreneurial determination to bring Exit 11 to where it is today, which you can read about in our story.  

In the search for possible new sites, the Garlands have considered towns in the more urban St. Louis and St. Charles Counties.  Some communities impose costly development requirements, such as traffic studies, which make expansion into those areas out of reach for many small businesses. 

Planning and Zoning Commissions in larger towns also have an aversion to the original little orange trailer concept, as cute as they are.  The trailers are an affordable way to test a location, even though they require permanent hook ups to water, sewer and electric utilities.  

Exit 11 Coffee’s first brick and mortar drive-thru location opened in St. Peters, Missouri in June 2022.  Angela’s affinity for networking was the link between identifying a site and getting it built.  She met Bret and Jennifer Bonacorsi of jBloom Designs in Saint Peters through a C12 Business Forum and learned they wanted to attract a coffee shop to their Highway 94 campus.  In February 2022 Exit 11 signed a 10-year lease for a section of the jBloom parking lot and funded the constuction with Exit 11 Coffee capital. 

Just as St. Peters was opening, an opportunity in St. Louis County popped up.    

As Angela describes the Garland’s business decision making strategy, she plays offense, Scott plays defense and between the two they can act on opportunities, trusting their intuition, faith and smarts.   

Exit 11 Coffee is a company that was formed and nurtured in a small town.  Washington, MO is 11 miles from the Interstate Highway and has a population of 14,000.  It is an unlikely place to build a multi-location coffee ‘dynasty.’  Like most small towns, anyone who has lived there less than 25 years is considered a newcomer.  To develop a network, Angela joined and became active in the Rotary Club, the local Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Washington, Inc.  She joined the Board of Graces Place Crisis Nursery and volunteered often.  Being a local business, Exit 11 takes pride in sponsoring children’s sports teams and other activities.  Regular networking events are hosted at Exit 11 Workspace and Coffee House, and during the pandemic local businesses had the opportunity to sponsor free coffee drinks for first responders.  Over 5,000 local Exit 11 customers have signed up to receive email newsletters and rewards program opportunities.  As of this writing Exit 11 has 16,000 reward members, 38,000 customers, 5,700 email subscribers and 7,000 text subscribers.   

Exit 11 Coffee’s development strategy is one of steadfast faith and exuberant optimism.   In the Summer of 2022 there are 33 employees, mostly highly trained baristas, working together as a team to ensure a strong future for the company and for their own careers.