"We want to be better, not bigger. We don’t have lofty goals."
When the first Panther Coffee opened its doors in Wynwood 15 years ago, the working-class neighborhood was much different than it is today.
There were no tourists, not a lot of foot traffic. Nefarious actions by the criminally minded were not unusual. Unattended laptops were not safe, and even locked cars were a risk. On the night before opening day, a daring thief made off with the air conditioning condensing unit on the roof.
“We didn’t know we needed a cage for it,” admits Joel Pollock, who opened the business with his Brazilian-born wife Leticia.
“We were new to Florida, and we came out in the morning and thought, ‘It’s blowing air, but it’s not cold.‘ We went out to look, and it was gone.”
Clearly, the Pollocks prevailed (a reasonable outcome for a couple who met at a coffee convention).
Panther Coffee has grown from that single coffee shop to a well-known brand with six locations in South Florida, a roastery in Traverse City, Mich., where Joel Pollack grew up, and a New York City location set to open in 2026.
Read more at the Miami Herald