GRO Coffee

Gordon Rennie started off as a DJ, where he saved as much money as he could to buy an ex-pub in Irvine in 2015. He decided to go against all recommendations, one being the Home Report which, in short, had ‘do not buy’ written all over it.

Following on from his travels when he was younger, he wanted to take inspiration from coffee shops around the world to create something that was very quirky, but also classic enough so that it would reach a wide enough audience. In other words, Gordon’s goal was to design the ‘best coffee bar in the world,’ and if you have visited GRO yourself, you will know he is not far from it! To be able to create a vibe in a space that suits just about everyone, is something to be extremely proud of.

Gordon knows not to take his customers for granted, even his ‘regulars’. So, because of this, he is constantly striving to improve each and every customer’s experience as soon as they walk through the door. Weekly meetings to discuss what’s working and what’s not, from everything from the menu itself to the measurements of the icing on the cakes, are really beneficial to keep on top of things.

I asked Gordon how he did it. How has he managed to turn something that could be so simple, into what looks like art, to which his response was ‘the key is to make simple things amazing.’ The empire biscuits are giant-sized, the pancakes look as though they are straight out of a film set and best of all, every single dish is ‘Instagrammable’!

With social media becoming such a huge part to play in any business over the past few years, Gordon has used this to his advantage. By creating aesthetic online content and sharing images and videos that his customers have taken on the premises, it has resulted in his Instagram page ‘blowing up’ and thus, reaching an audience across the country.

Gro really has become a blueprint for the local, independent coffee bar, and is somewhere that is so special to have right at our doorstep. We as an Agency are really looking forward to seeing how Gro ‘gro’s’ over the next few years!