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company aggressively expand-
ed both their retail and whole-
sale operations. They opened a
new café in Columbia, another
one in Clayton, as well as sever-
al kiosks in local grocery stores.
They slowed down during the
recession, but around 2012, the
growth picked up again. They
expanded into Kansas City,
earned some significant whole-
sale accounts in Nashville, Ten-
nessee, and eventually began
opening stores in Atlanta, Geor-
gia. This summer, they will open
their fourth store in Atlanta.
Brett himself joined the busi-
ness in 2007, during the com-
pany’s initial period of rapid
expansion. He initially project
managed the construction of
the new stores, but once the
recession hit, he was forced to
turn his attention elsewhere.
He started working at the com-
pany’s roastery in Clayton,
where he went from bagging
coffee to working with the tech
department – which, at the
time, meant one full-time cof-
fee and espresso mechanic.
That department now employs
six full-time technicians and
has become a “business within
a business,” as they also do ser-
vice work for external brands
like McDonalds and Panera.
Four years ago, in April, Kaldi’s
Coffee moved into from a
10,000 square foot space into
a new 35,000 square foot head-
quarters and roastery. Around
that time, Brett graduated to a
larger operations role. He has
JULY/AUGUST 2019
“As we’ve grown,
we’ve held on to our
team, and we have all
remained very tight.”