Tucson’s coffee universe is about to get a little more crowded when Portland, Oregon-based Black Rock Coffee Bar opens its first Tucson location about a mile from the University of Arizona.
It will be the first of at least four Tucson locations for the boutique coffee chain, which has 19 stores in the Phoenix area.
The 1,600-square-foot shop at 1821 E. Broadway at North Campbell Avenue will offer drive-thru or dine-in for its menu of premium-roasted coffees and teas, proprietary energy drinks, hot chocolate and smoothies.
“We have been on a growth trajectory so we had been looking in Tucson two or three years ago,” said Black Rock cofounder Daniel Brand, who is part of a team of fathers and sons — three families in all — who founded Black Rock in 2008. “We knew it was a market we wanted to get in. Now is the time.”
Black Rock joins Tucson’s burgeoning coffee market with local purveyors including the popular Raging Sage Coffee Roaster and Caffe Luce, the behemoth Starbucks and fellow Portland coffee chain Dutch Bros.
Brand said what sets Black Rock apart from its competitors is its dedication to community and its customers, guiding principles that the company has followed since opening its first store in Portland.
The new Black Rock Coffee Bar, which is about a mile from the University of Arizona campus, will offer drive-thru or dine-in.
“We’ve built our business on what we call the three C’s: coffee, community and connection,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are a people company and that’s what we kind of double down on.”
Brand said Black Rock will open three more locations in the next year, including one at 8601 E. Golf Links Road at Pantano that is already under construction. All the stores are company owned.
