Blank Street Coffee launched a capped $8.99-a-week drink subscription to win regulars

Operates 74 small, low-cost coffee shops in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and London using semi-automated espresso machines.

That a capped weekly drink subscription could win frequent customers without becoming a MoviePass-style money loser.

Roughly $100M raised, valued at $177M in March 2023, down from $218M (per PitchBook via CNBC)

Blank Street began three and a half years earlier as a coffee cart in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and had grown to 74 shops. Chief product officer Dan Hill said it chose a subscription over a traditional loyalty program because customers wanted an easy, fast benefit, and the chain's youth gave it design flexibility.

The Blank Street Regulars program opened to the public in summer 2023. Members pay $8.99 a week (basic drinks) or $17.99 (wider menu including cold brew), capped at 14 drinks a week with a two-hour wait between orders, designed to avoid MoviePass's fate. Blank Street also capped membership to protect store capacity.

By January 2024 Regulars had about 5,000 paying members and a 4,000-person waitlist; a London version at £12 had a couple of hundred members.

Chief product officer Dan Hill said customers wanted an easy, fast way to benefit from visiting regularly, which a loyalty program didn't deliver.

Being young, Blank Street had no legacy loyalty scheme with millions of members used to the old rules.

CNBC noted subscriptions give startups guaranteed revenue and appeal to consumers who want to slash their coffee budgets.

A subscription for a high-frequency product needs built-in caps on cost and capacity from day one, or demand becomes the problem.

As of 5 January 2024, Blank Street was thinking about family and group plans and building capacity so those on the waitlist could join. The chain had raised about $100M with backing from General Catalyst, Tiger Global and a Warby Parker co-founder, according to PitchBook.