Exclusive | Oregon chain buys a Tri-Cities coffee empire. Some changes are coming

A Tri-Cities coffee empire that faced turmoil last year has been bought by an Oregon coffee chain.

Black Rock Coffee Bar purchased the local caffeine supplier Roasters Coffee — and eventually the Tri-Cities company will be switch to the Black Rock brand, the Tri-City Herald confirmed Friday.

“It is a very similar concept and will be an easy transition for customers,” said Derek Tonn, who was Roasters’ president and CEO and now serves as Black Rock’s vice president for Eastern Washington.

Tonn said the sale was finalized in January for an undisclosed price, and Black Rock is taking a methodical approach to transitioning the Roasters brand to ensure there are no service disruptions. Black Rock plans to keep Roasters employees.

He said that it could take up to six months before the first Black Rock sign rolls out in Tri-Cities.

Growing rapidly

Roasters was launched by Wes Heyden in 2009 with a stand in the Pasco Red Lion Hotel parking lot — just a year after the first Black Rock opened in Beaverton, Ore.

Roasters now has a dozen locations in Tri-Cities with another in Walla Walla and one in Airway Heights.

Heyden stepped down from all leadership and operational duties last June after being criticized for telling employees they couldn’t wear clothes supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and tweeting about his oppression as a convicted sex offender 24 years earlier when he was 15.

On Friday, Heyden referred all questions to Tonn, a former Battelle financial specialist, who was hired to take over operations for him.

Tonn also recently partnered with his son Dylan to become franchise owners of two Jersey Mike’s sandwich restaurants to be built in Richland.

Tonn said Friday that while he couldn’t speak for Heyden on his decision to sell his coffee company, Black Rock has had its eye on Tri-Cities for a while.

He said the company was excited for the chance to buy a chain that had a great reputation and was well established in a market that fit Black Rock’s expansion goals.

“The menu is very similar to Roasters,” Tonn said. “It has the same recipe, great service, speed and high quality.”

Tonn added that he knows there will be some customers who will be disappointed in the name being changed, but added that Black Rock can offer more resources and has an ambition to grow.

“I think is going to be very beneficial. It has very similar brand and similar look and feel,” he said.

Black Rock Coffee has 80 locations, with a dozen already in Washington — all in the Vancouver area. While most of the outlets are in the West, a handful are in Texas.

Tonn said that once Roasters makes the brand transition — Black Rock will have about 100 coffee shops, with plans for continued rapid growth including in Spokane.

For now, coffee beans for the Tri-Cities shops will continue to be roasted at Resilient Coffee Roasters on Aaron Drive in Richland, which Heyden still owns, according to state records.

Tonn said no decisions are final on if that arrangement will continue or whether the coffee beans will be roasted at Black Rock’s Vancouver-roasting facility that’s about to open.

“Roasters is very successful still and still growing so it won’t be rushed,” Tonn said. “The companies are a really great match. We are excited.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Exclusive | Oregon chain buys a Tri-Cities coffee empire. Some changes are coming."