Blanchard’s expands to retail, will open coffee shops in Scott’s Addition, Forest Hill

After fourteen years as a strictly wholesale coffee roaster, Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting Co. announced the company will be expanding into retail with a two-location launch this year and next.

Blanchard’s initial launch into the retail coffee market includes two Richmond locations – each with its own unique character, but sharing common details making them distinctly a part of the Blanchard’s ethos.

“Each location’s design is based on simplicity and attention to detail that comfortably focuses the customer on their own coffee experience,” Director of Sales & Marketing Stephen T. Robertson said in a news release. “Instead of trying to design the perfect coffee shop, we set out to design a beautiful space that will allow us to share an elevated coffee experience.”

Blanchard’s first location, located in a historic building in the 3100 block of West Broad Street, is scheduled to open in Summer 2019, and the second Blanchard’s shop is part of a new mixed use development on Richmond’s Forest Hill Avenue slated to open in Spring of 2020. Both spaces feature interior architectural design by Fultz & Singh Architects.

“We decided to open our own retail coffee locations because we believe coffee is all about telling a great story,” Robertson continued. “Everyone has that first coffee memory; it sticks with us, becoming part of our own coffee story, and at Blanchard’s we work to build on that by telling the stories of hardworking farmers who grow and harvest our coffee, and partnerships that help us bring that coffee to our customers. In order to tell the best possible story of the coffees we roast, we believe it is important to build spaces that allow us to highlight our commitment to quality, education, and building meaningful connections with our customers and the surrounding community.”