Black Rock Coffee Bar names development chief to fuel expansion
Black Rock tapped Jon Vingo to run real estate, site selection and construction as it pushes toward 1,000 stores by 2035 and leans on drive-thru growth.
Black Rock Coffee Bar has put a veteran development operator at the center of its next phase. The chain named Jon Vingo chief development officer on May 12, giving him control over real estate, site selection, prototype design and construction as Black Rock pushes harder into a footprint built for speed, drive-thru volume and tighter unit economics.
The hire fits a company that is no longer acting like a scrappy regional upstart. Black Rock said Vingo’s background includes senior leadership roles at Pineapple Hospitality Group, Bloomin’ Brands, Tokyo Joe’s and Panera Bread, and CEO Mark Davis said Vingo brings experience leading disciplined, multi-market store expansion. That kind of discipline matters for a brand that has set a goal of reaching 1,000 stores by 2035 and says it sees “ample white space” in its existing markets.
Black Rock’s growth story is already moving fast enough to demand more than consumer buzz. The company raised $294.1 million in its September 2025 initial public offering and expected to open about 30 stores in 2025. By June 30, 2025, SEC-related reporting put the chain at 158 locations across seven states. Industry reporting later described it as having more than 190 locations across seven states, a jump that underscores how quickly the company has been adding units.
That pace makes the development job more strategic than ceremonial. Black Rock was founded in 2008 in Beaverton, Oregon, as a single 160-square-foot coffee bar, and it now calls itself the largest fully company-owned coffee retailer in the U.S. The company’s filing showed why site selection and prototype design matter so much: drive-thru transactions generated 72% of store revenues. In a category where lane flow, access points and throughput can make or break a site, the person choosing the box is also shaping the customer experience inside the box.
The financial backdrop helps explain the urgency. For the 12 months to June 30, 2025, Black Rock said total half-year revenues rose 24% to $95 million, like-for-like sales grew 10.1% and its net loss narrowed to $2 million in the first half of 2025. The momentum carried into 2026, when the company said it opened nine new stores in the first quarter and posted 23.7% revenue growth.
Vingo’s appointment signals that Black Rock wants more than growth for growth’s sake. It wants a repeatable machine for opening coffee shops that can scale across states without losing the speed and drive-thru efficiency that have become central to the brand’s identity.
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