Smokey Row Coffee
Smokey Row Coffee is a privately held Iowa-based coffeehouse operator and roaster, founded in 1998, running 6 standalone cafes and 7 Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh counters across Iowa communities while selling 29+ varieties of in-house roasted packaged coffee direct-to-consumer online.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersPleasantville, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Smokey Row Coffee does
Smokey Row Coffee is a privately held, regionally focused coffeehouse operator and roaster headquartered at 103 East Monroe Street, Pleasantville, Iowa. Founded in 1998 and operating with 51–100 employees, the company runs 6 standalone cafes across Iowa communities (Pleasantville, Des Moines, Pella, Carlisle, Oskaloosa, and Ankeny) and 7 additional cafe counters inside Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh grocery stores in the Des Moines metro area (Grimes, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Urbandale), giving it a footprint of 13 customer-facing points of sale within the state. Its customer base is local Iowa consumers seeking dine-in coffee, cold beverages, breakfast/lunch food, and event room reservations at select locations.
The company's core technology is its in-house coffee roasting operation based in Pleasantville, where it produces a portfolio of 29+ packaged SKUs — house blends, flavored coffees, single-origin coffees, and small-batch Roaster's Reserve offerings — using a proprietary espresso blend technique that combines 100% Arabica natural and washed coffees from Central and South America, roasted separately and blended for a smoother profile. Whole bean and ground coffee is sold in 12 oz bags at $13.95–$20.95 direct-to-consumer through the company's e-commerce storefront (with free shipping on gift cards), while the cafe menu and Hy-Vee counters drive beverage and food volume.
Smokey Row's business model is a multi-channel direct-to-consumer retail operation with three primary revenue streams: in-store cafe retail sales (beverages, food), e-commerce packaged coffee sales, and gift card sales. GTM is predominantly brick-and-mortar retail with a supplementary e-commerce layer; the company markets through organic social (Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook) and a ROWards loyalty program hosted on a third-party platform (Comosense). Its core partnership with Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh — placing Smokey Row counters inside grocery stores — functions as a distribution channel and a meaningful growth lever within the Des Moines metro.
Smokey Row Coffee firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Smokey Row Coffee
- Legal name
- Smokey Row Coffee
- Website
- https://smokeyrow.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Smokey Row Coffee is a privately held Iowa-based coffeehouse operator and roaster, founded in 1998, running 6 standalone cafes and 7 Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh counters across Iowa communities while selling 29+ varieties of in-house roasted packaged coffee direct-to-consumer online.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Smokey Row Coffee industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Coffee Retail / Coffeehouse
- NAICS
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)
Keywords
Where Smokey Row Coffee is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Pleasantville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices14 records
Markets served
Smokey Row Coffee business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Cafe Retail Sales: Revenue from beverage and food sales at standalone cafe locations across Iowa communities, including coffee drinks, cold drinks, salads, wraps, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
- Packaged Coffee Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales of whole bean and ground coffee in 12oz bags, including house blends, flavored coffees, and single-origin coffees. Prices range from $13.95 to $20.95 per bag.
- Gift Cards: Sale of gift cards in $10 and $25 denominations, with free shipping on all gift card orders.
- Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh Locations: Revenue from cafe locations inside Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh grocery stores in the Des Moines metro area, providing coffee and beverages within a grocery retail setting.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Coffee Blends |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Premium Single-Origin Coffees |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Gift Cards |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Smokey Row Coffee product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Smokey Row Coffee operates a regional chain of cafes in Iowa that sell freshly roasted coffee beverages, breakfast and lunch food items, and packaged roasted coffee for home brewing. The company roasts all of its coffee in-house at its facility in Pleasantville, Iowa, and distributes through 6 standalone cafes plus 7 in-store cafe counters inside Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh grocery stores across the Des Moines metro area, with packaged coffee also available via direct-to-consumer e-commerce shipping.
Product overview
Smokey Row Coffee is a regional coffeehouse chain operating primarily in the Des Moines metro area of Iowa. The company offers a unified product portfolio centered on freshly roasted packaged coffee (29+ varieties including house blends, flavored coffees, and single-origin options), in-store cafe services (beverages and food), and gift cards. Their core offering includes house-blend and specialty coffees roasted in Pleasantville, Iowa, sold alongside cafe menu items. The ROWards loyalty program enables customer engagement across all standalone and Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh locations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Smokey Row Coffee
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Smokey Row Coffee technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Smokey Row Coffee partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Hy-Vee Fast & FreshcoreSmokey Row operates cafe locations inside Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh grocery stores, providing coffee and beverages to customers at 7 locations across the Des Moines metro area in Grimes, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Urbandale.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Smokey Row Coffee competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Specialty third-wave roaster with cafe locations and a nationally distributed packaged coffee wholesale and DTC business. Comparable in the roastery-cafe-retail hybrid model and premium coffee positioning.
- Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster with sustainability-focused positioning, cafe/education centers, and wholesale distribution. Comparable as a smaller-scale specialty roaster with similar quality and origin-focused branding.
- Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator with strong DTC packaged coffee e-commerce. Comparable in the in-house roasting + cafe + DTC packaged coffee business model that Smokey Row operates.
- Scooter's Coffee: Midwest-headquartered specialty coffee chain with aggressive franchise expansion across secondary markets — directly comparable to Smokey Row as a regional coffee competitor pursuing similar suburban and grocery-embedded growth strategies.
- Biggby Coffee: Regional specialty coffee chain with a multi-state Midwest presence and community-focused brand positioning. Directly comparable in target customer, cafe experience, and regional expansion playbook.
- Dutch Bros Coffee: High-growth regional coffee chain aggressively expanding across the Midwest with drive-thru and kiosk formats. Comparable in product focus (specialty beverages) and geographic expansion strategy into secondary markets.
Broad incumbents
- Caribou Coffee: Established Midwest-rooted coffee chain with broader geographic reach and a wider product portfolio. Comparable in regional positioning and cafe-retail format, though with significantly greater scale.
- Starbucks: Global coffee incumbent with dominant market share, robust loyalty program (Rewards), and mobile-first ordering. Comparable as a direct competitor in Iowa markets and as the benchmark for the specialty cafe category.
- Dunkin': National QSR coffee and donut chain with broad Midwest penetration and a strong loyalty program (DD Perks). Comparable as a low-cost, high-frequency competitor in grocery-embedded and standalone formats.
- Tim Hortons: North American QSR coffee chain with strong Midwest presence and a community-cafe positioning. Comparable in cafe format and community-anchor value proposition for small/secondary markets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Smokey Row Coffee social profiles
Digital presenceSmokey Row Coffee financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Smokey Row Coffee leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Smokey Row Coffee funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Smokey Row Coffee M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Smokey Row Coffee
What does Smokey Row Coffee do?
Smokey Row Coffee operates a regional chain of cafes in Iowa that sell freshly roasted coffee beverages, breakfast and lunch food items, and packaged roasted coffee for home brewing. The company roasts all of its coffee in-house at its facility in Pleasantville, Iowa, and distributes through 6 standalone cafes plus 7 in-store cafe counters inside Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh grocery stores across the Des Moines metro area, with packaged coffee also available via direct-to-consumer e-commerce shipping.
Is Smokey Row Coffee a public or private company?
Smokey Row Coffee is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Smokey Row Coffee founded?
Smokey Row Coffee was founded in 1998. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Smokey Row Coffee based?
Smokey Row Coffee is headquartered in Pleasantville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Smokey Row Coffee make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Cafe Retail Sales are the primary driver. The others are packaged Coffee Sales, gift Cards and hy-Vee Fast & Fresh Locations.
Who are Smokey Row Coffee's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Counter Culture Coffee, Blue Bottle Coffee, Scooter's Coffee, Biggby Coffee and Dutch Bros Coffee. Broad incumbents are Caribou Coffee, Starbucks, Dunkin' and Tim Hortons.
Does Smokey Row Coffee have an API?
No public API is recorded for Smokey Row Coffee.
What industry is Smokey Row Coffee in?
Smokey Row Coffee's product category is Specialty Coffee Retail / Coffeehouse. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFADAE, Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes), with a secondary code of THAFADAA, Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave). Its NAICS code is 722515 and its SIC code is 5810.