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Tallahassee-based Lucky Goat Coffee is opening its first Lakeland location at 3615 S. Florida Ave. #810, in the corner of Merchant’s Walk.
The new family-owned franchise is a partnership between Karen and Chris Gullifer; their son, Madison; and his wife, Jessica.
The Lakeland cafe offers cold brew, espresso and coffee-based drinks, along with tea, chai and matcha. They sell cold brew coffee by the gallon or growler and beans for brewing at home.
Local bakeries, Meraki Bakehouse and Honeycomb Bread Bakers, provide a variety of both sweet and savory pastries.
Lucky Goat Merchant’s Walk is open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
A family venture
Madison and Jessica first got to know Lucky Goat Coffee while attending Florida State University in Tallahassee. Karen and Chris would stop by their shops when visiting the area.
“For the past 10 years, we’ve just been going to Lucky Goat when we go up there,” said Chris. “We liked the coffee. We liked the brand. We like the atmosphere of the cafes — and it’s a cool name, too.”
Chris said opening the franchise has brought the Gullifers closer as a family. “The combination of all of our talents really kind of came together from a true synergistic standpoint,” he explained.
He said Jessica and Madison have an entrepreneurial spirit — and about 20 combined years of experience at Chick-fil-A and in the food and beverage business. Chris provides insight into construction and financing. Karen is very involved in the community; she brings people together.
“The sum of the parts is what makes it so successful in my mind, or will make it so successful,” Chris said.
A valuable partnership
Chris said that they have a great partnership with the Lucky Goat corporation that provides them with guidance but also allows them to take ownership and personalize their location.
The Gullifers designed the space and oversaw the build out. He said that Lucky Goat is new to franchising so they are open to feedback. The Merchant’s Walk location is the eighth completed franchise and more are in the works. This is the 14th Lucky Goat Coffee location.
“They’re alongside of us to help us and guide us and direct us, but ultimately, as long as we’re doing things within the brand, a lot of things are our decisions,” Chris said.
That freedom allowed Jessica and Madison to seek out local wholesale bakers to provide pastries and ground the shop in the Lakeland community. They already knew of Meraki and sought out a partnership when planning began for their Lucky Goat location. Chris and Karen met Benjamin Vickers of Honeycomb at the Saturday farmer’s curb market in downtown and a collaboration grew from there.
Customer focus
Opening the location has brought the Gullifers closer as a family, but now their focus is on the customer.
“We all have the same goal: it’s customer service, a great customer experience,” Chris said. “If you do that right, everything else falls in line.”
He said the Goat Bomb is one of their signature drinks. “I just think the goat bomb is awesome,” Chris said. “I like the cold brew, and I like the espresso, so it definitely gets you a good shot of caffeine when you need it.”
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