The Freaky Bean Coffee Company
{{Short description|American coffee business}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = The Freaky Bean Coffee Company
| logo = Freakybeancoffeecompany.png
| type = Privately held company
| genre =
| foundation = October 2005 by Andrew Kessler and Jonathan Stratton
| founder =
| defunct = March 2009
| location_city = Westbrook, Maine
| location_country = U.S.
| location =
| locations =
| area_served = Southern Maine
| key_people = Jonathan Stratton, President
Andrew Kessler, V.P. Marketing & E-commerce
Gary Woodworth, V.P. Logistics
| industry = Restaurants
Retail Coffee and Tea
Retail Beverages
Entertainment
| products = Whole Bean Coffee
Boxed Tea
Made-to-order beverages
Bottled beverages
Baked Goods
Merchandise
| services =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| caption =
| homepage = [http://www.freakybean.com Freakybean.com]
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
The Freaky Bean Coffee Company was an independent, Maine-based specialty coffee house and roaster. The company was founded in 2005. It had retail locations, a roasting division, and wholesale accounts. It has six locations but faced closures and finally became defunct in March 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.southportlander.com/index.php/article/freakys_sopo_locale_closes/ |title=Freaky's SoPo Locale Closes |access-date=2009-03-19 |last=Hersey |first=Linda |date=2009-03-19 |work=The South Portlander |archive-date=2011-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716112615/http://www.southportlander.com/index.php/article/freakys_sopo_locale_closes/ |url-status=dead }}
History
Andrew Kessler and Jon Stratton, a former member of the US Navy founded the company. They started the company in 2005 using microfinancing from Accion USA.{{cite web |website=ACCION USA |url=http://www.accion.org/Page.aspx?pid=690 |title=Meet "Microentrepreneurs from the USA: Jonathan Stratton, Scarborough, Maine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221173952/http://www.accion.org/Page.aspx?pid=690 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 }} The first Freaky Bean shop opened in June 2006 in Scarborough.{{cite web |url=http://www.keepmecurrent.com/news/Print.cfm?StoryID=44299 |website=KeepMEcurrent |title=Coffee house stays grounded in rapid expansion |first=Linda |last=Hersey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402023107/http://www.keepmecurrent.com/news/Print.cfm?StoryID=44299 |archive-date=April 2, 2008 }}
The company experienced rapid growth in 2007 and 2008, followed by store closures. In March 2007, The Freaky Bean was one of 30 companies honored as "outstanding role models of entrepreneurship," by The Maine Small Business Development Center.{{cite web |url=http://mainebusiness.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=4082 |website= Maine News Direct |title=Maine Small Businesses Honored as Outstanding Role Models |date=March 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401095849/http://mainebusiness.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=4082 |archive-date=April 1, 2008 }} In July 2007, The Freaky Bean opened its second retail location, as well as its headquarters, roasting operations hub and distribution center on Main Street in Westbrook. In addition to being a coffee roastery and distribution center, this location included a public coffee cupping room. In December 2007, the company announced its agreement to purchase Maine Roasters Coffee Company. This purchase included coffee shops in Yarmouth and Falmouth and Maine Roasters' wholesale business.{{cite web |url=http://www.mainebiz.biz/daily_stories.html?id=309 |website=Mainebiz |title=Freaky Bean buys Maine Roasters |date=December 7, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414185753/http://www.mainebiz.biz/daily_stories.html?id=309 |archive-date=April 14, 2008 }}
In May 2008, The Freaky Bean opened its fifth retail location at the Scarborough Gateway shopping complex.{{cite web |url=http://mainebusiness.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=4940 |website= Maine News Direct |title=Haven's Candies & Freaky Bean Officially Sign Leases to Join The Gateway at Scarborough |date=October 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401095853/http://mainebusiness.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=4940 |archive-date=April 1, 2008 }} That same month, the company was selected as the Official Coffee of The American Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. As a result of this selection, Freaky Bean would be the only coffee available at the Pavilion. In July 2008, the company opened its sixth retail location on Broadway in South Portland. In November 2008, the former owners of Maine Roasters Coffee took possession of the Maine Roasters assets, including the Yarmouth and Falmouth coffee shops as partial settlement for loan defaults, reducing the number of Freaky Bean locations from six to four.{{cite news |first=Peggy |last=Roberts |title=Grounds for change |work=The Forecaster (Southern Edition) |page=4 |date=5 December 2008 |access-date=5 December 2008|url=http://www.theforecaster.net/story.php?storyid=17266 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} As of December 2008, the members of the board of directors were Jonathan Stratton, Gary Woodworth, Jon Ricci, Jim Walsh, Jim Talbot, Jim Mclaughlin, and Einar Seadler.
In February 2009, the company was forced into filing involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy by its three major creditors. Behind the scenes, this process began the forced liquidation of its assets and shutdown of its retail and wholesale operations. In March 2009, the Scarborough Gateway location and the flagship store in Westbrook were abruptly closed amid reports that the company was having trouble paying its vendors and its employees.{{cite news |first=Leslie |last=Bridgers |title=Coffee company shuts two shops |work=American Journal |date=5 March 2009 |access-date=6 March 2009 |url=http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=63728 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313093851/http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=63728 |archive-date=13 March 2009 }}{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Busby |title=Freaky Bankruptcy |work=The Bollard |date=5 March 2009 |access-date=6 March 2009 |url=http://www.thebollard.com/bollard/?p=5489 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208032811/http://www.thebollard.com/bollard/?p=5489 |archive-date=8 February 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} Some of those vendors took the company to court in an attempt to recover the money owed to them. Later that same month, the remaining two locations — South Portland and Scarborough/Route 1 — were abruptly closed.
Logo
The Freaky Bean's round logo is based on a statue found at the Mayan temples in Central America. Designed by Arielle Walrath, a local Maine designer and illustrator,[http://www.ariellewalrath.com/view.php?piece=freakyIdentity&category=identity arielle walrath: freelance design & illustration: portfolio of work] the stone statue's design was illustrated to show the Mayan character juggling a coffee cup, a coffee bean, and a muffin. A second logo was created for use in smaller spaces: it consists of the company's name, with a coffee cup in the middle with steam emanating from it. Both logos were used interchangeably within the company's stores, literature, and branding.
Products
The Freaky Bean served a variety of coffee-based drinks as well as hot chocolate and organic teas, along with their version of a blended iced coffee drink, the Freakazoid.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freaky Bean Coffee Company, The}}
Category:Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States
Category:American companies established in 2005
Category:Restaurants established in 2005
Category:Restaurants disestablished in 2009
Category:Defunct companies based in Maine
Category:Privately held companies based in Maine
Category:Companies based in Cumberland County, Maine
Category:Defunct restaurants in the United States