Two couples teamed up to open the first of several Ellianos Coffee Co. drive-thrus in Southwest Florida. The franchise at 19175 Peachland Blvd. in Port Charlotte is set to open Sept. 4.
Ellianos bills itself as Italian quality at America’s pace, and the Port Charlotte location will be the 55th franchise for Ellianos Coffee.
While most franchise owners lease their store’s location, franchise owners John and Erinn Rasmussen and Matthew and Susana Aubert own the Ellianos sites in Port Charlotte and other properties in Englewood, North Port and Punta Gorda, where they will open other Ellianos Coffee locations. They are leasing space for an Ellianos in front of the Walmart in Arcadia.
Erinn Rasmussen had never heard of Ellianos until her brother, a truck driver, told her about the brand. At the time they were considering opening a franchise, and they made a special trip to try out many of the drinks and decided they were of the same quality one finds in Europe.
The two couples had recently returned from Abu Dhabi where the husbands, who served in the military, were working for a United Arab Emirates power plant that was under construction.
Erin Rasmussen and Susana Aubert met while they were living in a compound in Abu Dhabi and were walking their dogs in a nearby park. They became friends and discovered that they and their spouses were looking for a way to earn enough money to retire early once their time in Abu Dhabi was over, Rasmussen said.
Back in the U.S., they joined forces in the real estate industry before learning of franchise opportunities with Ellianos Coffee.
In addition to coffee, Ellianos sells a variety of coffees, teas, iced drinks, freezers, smoothies, food shakes, refreshers, breakfast bowls, sandwiches, chicken salad croissants, bagels and desserts. There also are dairy-free and sugar-free alternatives.
Ellianos was founded by entrepreneurs Scott and Pam Stewart in Lake City. The Stewarts traveled to the Pacific Northwest and witnessed a booming drive-thru specialty coffee shop industry, prompting them to open Ellianos in 2002. Company officials said there are 120 new stores in various stages of development and planning. Locations in Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres are currently in planning stages.
Ellianos Coffee shops are in Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida.
Hours at the Port Charlotte location are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.
