🔒7 Brew continues expansion, seeks to add location in major CT city

7 Brew, the national drive-thru coffee and beverage chain, continues its expansion plans in Connecticut, filing an application to construct a location in New Haven. The state franchise of the Arkansas-based chain, which serves only hot and cold coffee, tea, energy drinks and other beverages, is owned by Rohan Kapoor and Manraj Parmar of Drive Thru Brew LLC. They opened the first 7 Brew location in New England on Route 5 in Wallingford in September, followed by a second location in Vernon, which opened in April. Drive Thru Brew is also preparing to open locations in Orange and North Haven in September. The application in New Haven would create the state’s fifth 7 Brew location in Whalley Commons, at 1455-1471 Whalley Ave. The plaza includes a former location for Walgreens that closed in February. “We're working with the landlord that owns that whole plaza,” Parmar said Thursday. “We found a spot that'll conserve as much parking for everyone else, but allows us to drop our building there. It should be a really good location.” The property is owned by SK Property LLC, which acquired the plaza for $5.75 million in August 2021. Typically, 7 Brew, which has more than 430 locations nationwide, prepares a 510-square-foot prefabricated building off-site and then trucks it in and installs it at the desired location. Drive Thru Brew’s application in New Haven seeks a development permit and site plan approval to construct the building. The application states the size of the building will be 533 square feet with a 251-square-foot chiller unit. The application adds that the existing parking will be reconfigured to accommodate the drive-thru lanes and vehicle queuing. Its service model features a double-lane drive-thru, with employees taking and delivering orders directly to customers’ vehicles. The building does not provide any seating for customers, inside or out, and has parking only for staff. Parma said the new locations in Orange and North Haven and the proposed location in New Haven will all look more like the stand in Vernon, which was recently updated with a brick exterior. Drive Thru Brew generally hires 50 employees for each location, which have operating hours from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 7 Brew’s menu includes more than 20,000 drink combinations, including not just coffee, teas and energy drinks, but also sodas, chillers, lemonades, shakes and smoothies. Parmar added that Drive Thru Brew, which is based in West Hartford, is also awaiting approval of a building permit to erect a 7 Brew in West Springfield, which would be the brand’s first location in Massachusetts.