Michigan Families to Open BIGGBY® COFFEE Franchise, Creating a Lasting Legacy in the Bridgeport Community

Earl and Lisa Seelmann are no strangers to owning their own business, as they have had experience operating their own successful construction business. However, Lisa’s passion for contributing to her community and the desire to build a lasting legacy for her family, inspired her to seek out new opportunities.  

One day, Earl and Lisa’s daughter and son in law, Alexandra Seelmann-Saunders and Alexander Saunders introduced the family to BIGGBY® COFFEE. The brand’s values and vision for building meaningful connections with its customers resonated with them immediately. The family saw this as the perfect chance to create something new and lasting and they decided to go for it.

With Memorial Day quickly approaching, the Seelmanns & Saunders are gearing up to launch their first BIGGBY® COFFEE franchise on May 22. The family-owned franchise will be a welcomed addition to the community, and they hope to create a hub for individuals to gather and connect.

1851 Franchise had the opportunity to speak with Lisa and Alexandra about their upcoming venture, and what it means to them to work together as a family towards their shared dream.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Lisa: My husband works for Lee Industrial as a field install manager. Before this, I worked for the State of Michigan in child welfare. Owning a franchise is just something I’ve always wanted to do. I always thought it created a good income base that can last. We had looked initially at a couple of different options but didn’t know quite what we wanted to do. Then Alex and her husband came to us with BIGGBY® COFFEE, they had already done all the research, and we were on board. What we like about franchising is once you build it up, you can hire managers and add more stores, and it allows us to build a legacy for our family. For me and my husband, this really is great. This is something we’ve always wanted to do.

Alexandra: I work for the state police in the forensic lab as a scientist. I plan to continue to do this even after we open the coffee shop. My husband is an attorney for Liberty Mutual. We both were ambitious, like my parents, and we wanted to open up our own franchise. As a family, we flipped a couple of houses in the past. Then during the pandemic, the housing market skyrocketed and we couldn’t afford to do that anymore. So, we were looking for our next opportunity, and I just thought that a coffee shop in Bridgeport would be an amazing addition to the community. We liked the idea of becoming an established part of our community and building a legacy for our daughter. We thought it would be a great investment for our future and our eventual retirement plan. But having the chance to have this experience with my family has been the best part of it. I trust my mom and dad implicitly. Having partners that you can work with and who you can rely on is a great feeling. It makes things move smoothly. We can have our differences, but we make a great team.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Alexandra: I always thought in order to get into franchising you needed to have an insane amount of money. I thought there were huge barriers in order to enter the industry. But when we started looking into franchising, I was surprised because the barriers weren’t quite as high as I thought they were.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Alexandra: I stumbled on BIGGBY® COFFEE first and brought that to the table. My father-in-law is a big BIGGBY® COFFEE drinker. Whenever my husband and I bring our daughter to visit him, he always takes us out to get BIGGBY® COFFEE, especially now that he knows we’re opening our own shop. I really enjoy their product. But I also really enjoyed that they had different building options for franchisees to choose from. When I learned that they offered a drive-thru-only concept, that really spoke to me, and I liked the convenience of it. During the pandemic, we saw a lot of lobby-focused stores get shut down, and employees lose their jobs. We want to make sure that we’re always able to take care of our staff and the people in our community, so the drive-thru-only experience really stood out to us.

Lisa: I really like the BIGGBY® COFFEE menu. There are a ton of beverage options and different foods. It appeals to such a wide audience even if you are not a coffee drinker.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Lisa: I have a really good feeling about this. I think we’re in a good spot, and we’re getting a lot of really good community feedback. When people find out that it’s our family opening the shop, they always tell us how excited they are. I think it’s going to do well, and we’ve talked about potentially opening another location in the future, but we’ll see how this one goes first.

Alexandra: It’s still pretty early on for us. We’d like to do more, and we’ve talked about adding on another location, but we’ll wait and see before we make any decisions like that.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Lisa: We have three other children, so ideally, we’d like to get some of them to partner with us, as well. I would love to have our whole family involved. And I think with their help we’d be able to open another location. That’s the biggest thing for me and my husband. It’s a great opportunity to work with our family and build something for our children. We want to use this opportunity to make sure our kids, and grandkids, don’t have to worry about their retirement plan when they’re older.

Alexandra: When my siblings and I were all younger, we would always talk about opening a restaurant with my parents. I don’t know why we did it, but we really wanted to open a restaurant. I think it’s because we all just love to eat food and mom is a great cook. This really feels like a dream come true, and it’s really exciting and rewarding.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Alexandra: Have a solid support system because there are going to be times when it gets very stressful. But if you have somebody to talk things through with, that helps more than you know.

Lisa: That’s good advice. Have someone to talk to. That’s why I appreciate working with my family. But also, make sure your budget is sound. Make sure to check it multiple times. There are so many things that pop up that you never expect or think can alter your budget. If you don’t plan for it, it can be stressful, so always be sure to check on your finances.

About The BIGGBY® COFFEE Franchise

BIGGBY® COFFEE, based in East Lansing, Mich., was started with a single store on March 15, 1995. One year later, and on the cusp of opening a second location, Bob Fish and Michael McFall, on a handshake and $4,000, decided to franchise the concept. The brand’s cultural values of Make Friends, Have Fun, B Yourself and Share Great Coffee help coffee-lovers and the coffee-curious alike benefit from a less pretentious and fun approach to the standard gourmet cafe paradigm. Besides connoisseur-worthy drinks with names like Teddy Bear® and Caramel Marvel®, BIGGBY® COFFEE baristas provide a unique experience focused on brightening their customers’ day and supporting them in building a life they love. The “Big ‘B’” on the orange background caught on, and today BIGGBY® COFFEE has 340 cafes across many states, including Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Florida.