With its concept of lounge-like juice bars, Danish chain Joe & the Juice has expanded rapidly across San Francisco. Now, it's opening its first outpost outside of the Financial District with a new store at 2213 Fillmore St. (between Sacramento and Clay streets) on September 21st.
Joe & the Juice first opened in the Bay Area with a location at SFO's International Terminal; the Fillmore location will be its sixth.
Dubbed "the next Starbucks," the company was founded in 2002 by former karate champion Kaspar Basse in Copenhagen. Featuring electronic beats and fresh juices, the company has expanded to more than 200 stores around the world.
Selections of juice and smoothies are made-to-order. There's also a full offering of coffee drinks made with beans sourced from an organic farm in Honduras and roasted locally.
"We always try to source our produce locally and organically when possible," Head of Branding & Communication Kasper Garnell told us via email.
At the Montgomery location, store manager Katie Zhou said that all produce comes through BiRite distribution and carrots, ginger, cucumber and kale are organic, while apples are not. A limited selection of sandwiches and breakfast bowls is also available.
While Joe & the Juice prides itself on creating a high-energy environment for employees and customers, the brand has also drawn controversy for its hiring process, which the company calls “casting."
A recap of San Francisco’s first job fair on December 1st described the event as “a spring break 1992 MTV commercial.”
However, the process has been successful for the brand, and according to Garnell, the Fillmore location is already fully staffed with applicants from its last call for talent.
As far as where Joe may next show up, a follow-up conversation with PR Manager Christian Bjorn revealed that we may expect to see stores in Oakland, Berkeley, Palo Alto, Burlingame, and Marin in the near future.
