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The founder of the brand, Ben Filmalter, and his wife Judi were on a trip to Chicago
in the early 1990s when they happened on a little coffee shop on the South Side.
The shop had a remarkably friendly and generous feel about it and the couple stayed
for several hours just sucking up the atmosphere and drinking bottomless cups of
coffee.
They also discussed the possibility of developing something with similar values
in the South African market. At the time Starbucks was making its presence felt
in the US market but the couple felt it would be a while before South Africans would
accept the Starbucks concept.
On arriving home the Filmalters carried on with their lives as usual, Ben as head
of a multi restaurant company and Judi assisting in the detail of the various units.
But the memories of that comfortable coffee shop never left them. Over time a concept
began to emerge and Ben evolved the identity and history of the brand. Finding a
suitable launch location was next, which finally arrived in 1996 at Cape Town 's
Waterfront.
The first Mugg & Bean opened in September 1996 and, because the restaurant combined
the values Ben and Judi had experienced previously in Chicago with their own personal
values, the coffee shop was an immediate hit. Franchising began in earnest two years
later and stores in Durbanville in the Cape and Johannesburg opened.
There was an immediate flurry of development and stores popped up all over the country
with similar success, indicating clearly that Mugg & Bean's value system was working.
Franchisees around South Africa were buying into this culture of generosity and
customer focus. The memories of the early days in the stores in Cape Town were dominated
by long working hours and long lines at the door.
People could not get enough of the generous portions, huge muffins and bottomless
coffee. Between 2000 and 2005 the brand has grown steadily by no less than 35 percent
annually.
Shops have sprung up in the neighbouring territories of Namibia and Botswana , as
well as the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia
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