Black Rifle Coffee closing stores, cancels new locations

Detailed summary

The Starbucks rival has built its business using veterans and patriotism as its brand differentiator, and that may be a problem now.

While it has continued to grow its sales, Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) lost money in the most recent quarter and will close at least a dozen locations.

The coffee chain has built its brand around being founded by veterans and embracing patriotism.

That shouldn't be a controversial business model, but in the current political climate, just like Starbucks loses some customers because of its perceived "wokeness," BRCC has turned off some liberal coffee drinkers.

"I didn't start it as a conservative company. I started it as a conservative starting a company," he told KSL News.

No matter what his intent, Hafer's company has been endorsed by Donald Trump and has taken positions against liberal causes. The BRCC founder, however, sees the brand as supporting veterans, gun rights, first responders, and active-duty military, not any particular politician.

"Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) is a Veteran-founded coffee company serving premium coffee to people who love America," the company shared on its website.

It's a company that has built its brand name by embracing conservative causes and patriotism, and that's something that both brings in customers while keeping others away.

"We expanded distribution through new retail partners and increased our presence within existing accounts. Our campaign celebrating America's 250th birthday helped broaden awareness and encourage trial among new consumers. Wholesale delivered another quarter of growth, while Direct-to-Consumer recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth," CEO Chris Mondzelewski said in the third-quarter earnings release.

The company has also taken some steps to lower losses and cut expenses. That includes closing 12 company-owned stores and dropping plans to open eight new locations where BRCC had already leased.

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