coffee news

What coffee news does

Coffee News is a privately-held franchise company operating since 1988 under the legal entity Coffee News USA, headquartered in Bangor, Maine. Its single product, the Coffee News® weekly entertainment publication, is a print advertising vehicle distributed in restaurants, coffee shops, and waiting areas, featuring family-friendly content alongside display ads sold to local small and medium-sized businesses.

The company generates revenue through a franchise model in two streams: (1) one-time franchise fees charged to Publisher Franchisees who purchase exclusive territorial rights (starting at $10,000 per territory, with recommended population caps of 40,000-50,000 per territory), and (2) ongoing ad revenue earned by franchisees who sell advertising to local SMBs such as real estate agents, insurance providers, healthcare practices, lawncare services, and community organizations. Each edition is distributed across 50-75 locations (roughly half restaurants, half non-restaurant waiting areas), and the typical publisher owns 3-5 territories, publishing 3-5 editions per week. Coffee News Printing handles print and shipping, while the franchisor provides training (Coffee News College), mentoring, ad layout/design, and an online resource center.

The business model relies on direct franchisee recruitment via website inquiries and phone-based discovery conversations, with marketing emphasizing lifestyle flexibility and low entry cost. Coffee News operates in the United States and Canada, has a registered Coffee News® trademark, reports a self-stated worldwide readership of "millions weekly," and carries no parent company, no institutional investors, and no disclosed funding rounds. The company has no mobile application, API, or AI/technology stack — it is a purely physical, relationship-driven publishing franchise.

Name

coffee news

Legal name

Coffee News USA

Website

https://coffeenewsusa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Coffee News is a privately-held franchise company (founded 1988) that licenses territories to Publisher Franchisees who distribute a weekly print publication in restaurants and waiting areas and sell advertising to local small businesses. It operates in the US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Print Advertising Services

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Weekly print publication
• Franchise publishing
• Local advertising
• Alternative newsweekly
• Coffee shop distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Bangor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Franchise Fees: One-time franchise fee for purchasing a Coffee News franchise territory. The company states starting costs as low as $10,000.
2. Advertising Revenue: Publisher franchisees sell advertising to local small and medium-sized businesses. Income is based on number of editions published, ad rates, and time dedicated to the business. Publishers typically own 3-5 franchises and publish 3-5 editions per week.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Coffee News publishes a weekly, four-page, full-color entertainment and advertising publication distributed free in coffee shops, restaurants, and waiting rooms in the United States and Canada. The business is operated through a franchise model in which independent publisher-franchisees purchase exclusive local territories and sell display advertising to small and medium-sized local businesses, while the corporate franchisor provides the brand, editorial content, production system, and ongoing support.

Product overview

Coffee News® is a single unified product — a weekly entertainment publication franchise system. The core offering is the Coffee News® publication distributed in restaurants and coffee shops. Franchisees (Publisher Franchisees) sell advertising to small and medium-sized businesses, manage distribution of the publication, and receive support including training (Coffee News College), mentoring, and an online resource center. The publication itself is printed and shipped by Coffee News Printing in the United States, with layout and ad design provided as part of the franchise package.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coffee News® Weekly Publication A weekly, four-page, full-color print publication distributed free to readers in coffee shops, restaurants, and waiting rooms, containing humor, trivia, and local display advertising sold by independent publisher-franchisees to local SMB advertisers.
• Coffee News Franchise Opportunity A franchise license sold to entrepreneur-operators granting exclusive rights to publish and distribute Coffee News within a defined local territory, including brand rights, content, production support, and ongoing franchisor support; intended for individuals seeking a lifestyle or part-time business.
• Local Display Advertising Placement Affordable, exclusive local display ad placements in the Coffee News weekly publication, sold by independent franchisee-publishers to small and medium-sized retail and service businesses seeking consistent local exposure in coffee shops, restaurants, and waiting rooms.

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Thrifty Nickel Want Ads: Thrifty Nickel is a long-running classified and display advertising publication distributed for free in local markets. It competes for the same SMB advertising dollars and free-print-distribution reader attention as Coffee News.
• Money Mailer: Money Mailer is a franchise system that produces direct-mail advertising publications for local SMBs, with a similar owner-operator franchise model targeting small businesses in defined geographic territories. It is a near-direct functional substitute for Coffee News's print local-advertising franchise.
• Valpak: Valpak is a franchise direct-mail advertising platform that delivers coupon mailers and digital ads to local households on behalf of SMB advertisers. It is the closest analog to Coffee News in combining a franchise network with local SMB advertising, just delivered via mail rather than restaurant placement.
• Community Impact Newspaper: Community Impact is a hyperlocal news and advertising publication distributed for free in targeted suburban markets, supported by local advertising. It competes for the same local SMB ad budgets and dwell-based distribution environments as Coffee News.
• Clipper Magazine: Clipper Magazine is a direct-mail advertising magazine franchise serving local SMBs with coupon and discount content. It shares Coffee News's value proposition of affordable, high-frequency local advertising for small businesses through a print/delivered product.
• The Pennysaver / PennySaver USA: Pennysaver is a free community classified-advertising publication sold via local franchise or territory operators. It targets the same SMB advertisers and free-distribution audience as Coffee News, with an overlapping value proposition around affordable local reach.

Broad incumbents

• Hibu (formerly Yellowbook): Hibu is an established digital marketing and local advertising provider serving SMBs across the US with websites, search, and display solutions. It is a broader incumbent that competes for the same SMB marketing budgets as Coffee News but through digital rather than print channels.
• ReachLocal: ReachLocal is a digital marketing platform that sells multi-channel local advertising (search, social, display) to SMBs. It targets the same end advertiser — local small businesses — through a very different delivery model, making it a relevant broader incumbent competitor for ad budgets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about coffee news