Kevin Brennan's Irish Coffee Empire

Rockn' Joe Coffeehouse & Bistro Franchises Rock to Success

It started with a trip to California in 1988, and a visit to a coffeehouse that was playing music from the band Asia.

"Why isn't anyone doing this on the East Coast?" Kevin Brennan asked himself, as he watched patrons enjoy the pleasant mixture of great coffee and music. The experience prompted him to visit other coffee bars during his West Coast visit, and he soon learned these small, individually-owned businesses were gaining popularity from Washington State to southern California.

For four years, he dragged his feet on exploring the fledgling coffeehouse business. Then in 1992, before there was a Starbucks on every corner in the New York metro area, Brennan went back to California to do some more research.

"I realized that the wave would be coming and that I'd need something to stand out.

Most coffeehouses I visited played classical music or Miles Davis. Since rock music covers the age range from 16-70, I knew the theme would appeal to a large demographic," the entrepreneur said.

The result eventually became Rockn' Joe Coffeehouse and Bistro in Cranford, N.J., the flagship restaurant in a growing franchise business.

"Starbucks Meets The Hard Rock Café"

After deciding on the rock & roll theme, Brennan, 44, began to use memorabilia from his musical past. He assembled a collage of concert ticket stubs and found custom frames to fit traditional album covers (artwork that kids who download their music onto iPods will never fully appreciate).

You'll find Brennan's coffeehouse walls are decorated with such iconic baby boomer albums as Frampton Comes Alive, Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell, the debut album from Boston, and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Yes, there is a picture of Bono among the album covers.

What sets Rockn' Joe's apart from a typical basement homage to classic rock are the gold record replicas that fill the walls. One of the more intriguing items is the gold record honoring Don McLean's American Pie, which is framed with a reproduction of the loose leaf piece of paper on which the songwriter scribbled lyrics such as:

Who wrote the book of love and do you have faith in God above?

"We have a partnership with the company that makes gold records for the artists. They don't just make one gold record. Usually, the artists, producers, and executives get them, as well, and we have the opportunity to sell them," Brennan explained. "In fact, everything on the walls is for sale."

Yet two things that won't be sold are signed artwork from Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones (it's a picture of drummer Charlie Watts) and an autographed guitar from Peter Frampton, one of the café owner's musical idols.

"I saw Frampton in concert in 1975, before his live album took off, and he really blew me away. I went home after the show and told my parents that I wanted to play guitar," said Brennan, who years later was introduced to the musician by a friend who worked for Universal Records.

The flagship Rockn' Joe has evolved into a local landmark, the centerpiece of a bustling downtown. It has been the setting for scenes in the movies Guess Who, starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher, and Far From Heaven with Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore. Just this summer, scouts from MTV came into the coffeehouse and asked if they could use it for a day to film a public service announcement to air during the MTV Music Awards.

"They called me at 7 p.m. on a Monday to tell me they were coming and showed up less than 12 hours later to start filming at 6 a.m. on Tuesday," Brennan recalled.

"They filled the front of the coffeehouse with cameras, screens, lighting, and a full crew of people. It was an incredible experience."

Golden Cup Winner

Rockn' Joe was recently honored with the Golden Cup Award, "the Oscar" of the specialty brewing industry. The award recognizes excellence in brewed coffee and is awarded annually to retailers and restaurants whose specialty coffee is properly ground and brewed.

To be eligible for the Golden Cup, an establishment must prepare its coffee according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America's precise brewing standards, created to raise the bar for growers, roasters and brewers. Contenders for the Golden Cup award must submit a sample of their water and brewed coffee for laboratory analysis. Rockn' Joe joins a small handful of coffeehouses and restaurants across the country earning the prestigious designation for 2006.

"Our signature brew is a tremendous source of pride for us," Brennan said. "This award reinforces that Rockn' Joe consistently provides one of the best cups of coffee around."

From Tea to Coffee

Brennan has fond memories of drinking tea with his grandmother in Union Township, N.J., which hosts one of the state's largest St. Patrick's Day parades. All four of his grandparents came through Ellis Island. His dad, Thomas, traces his roots to Cork and Sligo. His mother's side of the family, the Gillespie's, hails from Donegal. A cousin, Anthony Gillespie, runs the airport in Carrickfinn, Kincasslagh, Co. Donegal.

"Sometimes it entails getting the cows off the runway," chuckled Brennan, who has not yet found the time to visit Ireland. "I haven't been there because I've spent the majority of my adult life running my business."

Brennan believes his background has helped him become successful and claims that his mother's "Irish guilt" helped him hone his customer service skills. ("I get a bad feeling in my gut if I don't feel someone has been taken care of properly.") When he's able to string together a few days off, he sails a boat that he keeps in Atlantic Highlands on the Jersey Shore. He's also an accomplished marathoner, who completed his first New York City Marathon in 2006. (Caffeine helps fuel his training - Brennan drinks two 20-oz. cups of coffee a day, sometimes three.)

Menu

Unlike many theme restaurants, where the experience runs its course after just one visit, Rockn' Joe is the place you want to return again and again. The café pumps in a wide, eclectic mix of upbeat rock music from the past four decades.

The bistro menu features items include seared tuna steak, crab cakes served in a bed of mixed greens, grilled chicken with roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella on rustic Italian bread (brushed with olive oil and grilled to perfection). Desserts, naturally, are a focus. Favorites include a collection of pies, oversized cookies and tiramisu, a signature coffeehouse dessert.

The house blend is the top seller, but Rockn' Joe does substantial business with its specialty drinks, including mocha coffees, a creation known, appropriately, as the Nutty Irishman Cappucino, and a specialty latte that tastes just like a liquid Milky Way bar. (Yes, it's out of this world!)

Customers are able to enjoy their drinks at a leisurely pace. Part of what makes Rockn' Joe a pleasant experience is that there is no rush to leave.

"The place has been designed specifically to encourage customers to linger and enjoy the atmosphere," says Brennan, who used to have live music regularly, but it didn't draw the dessert-and-coffee crowd that is such a boon to the establishment.

Being an Entrepreneur

"Initial feedback was pretty good. It was an exhilarating year. I spent all my seed money. There was the excitement of the endless possibilities, but also fear," said Brennan, a former supermarket weekend manager. "The doors opened at 10:00 a.m., and I worked until closing. I never had to wonder what I'd be doing the next day."

The coffeehouse built a solid business, mostly through word-of-mouth about the great coffee, friendly service and fun atmosphere. Regulars, some of whom come in five days a week, sometimes visit twice a day for their coffee fix. Many original customers still come in frequently. The Cranford store's 2006 revenues were up 14 percent over 2005, which had been a record year. Meanwhile, Brennan started looking to expand his horizons.

Franchising

Looking for new challenges, Brennan contemplated owning and operating multiple stores or starting to franchise his concept.

"What separates Rockn' Joe from Starbucks is the local feel. The only way to do that is by having owners with vested interest in the success of a location and who get to know the customers who come in every day. I couldn't do that if I were running 10 stores myself," Brennan explained.

Franchising offers the positive aspects of a chain (consistent high quality products, branding, and marketing materials) with the flexibility of individual tastes. Would-be entrepreneurs should have the drive to be successful, as well as interest in being in a customer service industry and, naturally, a love of coffee. Brennan has received inquiries from people interested in setting up Rockn' Joe franchises in Ohio, upstate New York, Florida, Texas.

"There's a lot of interest in Florida. It's a leisure population with people who are looking for things to do. Inquiries from Ohio may have to do with the changing economy in that state," Brennan explained. "I can't pinpoint why the requests for information are coming from Texas other than we are an establishment that's likely different from anything in the area."

Mo Joe

The most recent Rockn' Joe opening was in Westfield, N.J., an upscale suburb of New York City.

To kick off the new venture, franchisees Lisa and Lance Marvin, called upon an old friend, Yankee relief pitcher Mariano Rivera, whom Lisa befriended when he was a minor leaguer and remained in contact over the years. The future Hall of Famer sipped coffee and raised more than $5,000 for The McCarton Foundation, which offers educational financial aid to families affected by autism, by signing autographs and auctioning off a jersey worn during the 2006 All-Star Game.

"It was great. We were talking about doing something special to launch the new location. Lisa whipped out her cell phone, dialed Mariano, and started asking what dates he would be available," Brennan explained.

"Mariano has been a close friend for many years," said Lisa Bertone-Marvin. "Rockn' Joe is the type of franchise you are truly proud to own. I enjoy going to work everyday."

The opening was yet another example of how Rockn' Joe turns simple sandwiches and great coffee into a special experience.