Bucking Starbuck’s

Biz Journal :

Four years ago, Carol White left her job in hotel management and bought Texas’ first Greenberry’s Coffee and Tea Co. franchise. Since then, the shop’s revenue has risen, one cup of coffee at a time.

“Our growth has always been upward, but there are months when it has been almost infinitesimal,” White says. “When you think that a cup of coffee is $1.50, you see why it takes a lot to see a difference.” Her experience in the hospitality industry provided a solid background for running the franchise. A Rice University graduate who held management positions with Crowne Plaza and the Four Seasons, White opened Greenberry’s to end her search for that perfect cup of java.

“I was not a big Starbuck’s fan, but I was a big consumer because there was nothing else,” she says. “When I opened, Starbuck’s had 80 Houston locations. Now they have 115. It looked like there was room for opportunity.”

According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 15 percent of adults drink coffee every day — a 6 percent jump since 2000. The industry generated $9.62 billion in 2005 and employed more than 20 million people worldwide.

White hopes those numbers will continue to rise. In the meantime, she keeps on brewing.