From Vision to Reality: How We Helped CafePod Open Their First-Ever Store

For over a decade, CafePod has built their reputation online and in supermarkets, a reputation for great coffee and great service. However, when the idea for their first physical space arose, they knew it needed to be exceptional. When CafePod approached us, they weren’t looking to open just another coffee shop. This venture was about bringing a long-held vision to life — a destination for coffee lovers to explore, learn, and connect. We partnered with CafePod as their fully outsourced retail solution, scouting and selecting the location, conceptualising and building the store, and staffing and operating their first-ever physical retail location.

The Vision for the Store

We understood the importance of this project from the outset – Peter Grainger, co-founder and CEO of CafePod, saw a gap in the market for an experience-led coffee shop that focused on providing the tools and knowledge to brew great coffee at home. Our job was to make this dream a reality. As a fully outsourced retail partner, we would handle every detail – from location sourcing and material sampling to build management, recruitment, staff training, and store operation – allowing CafePod to continue focusing on what they do best: creating exceptional coffee products and sharing their passion with their customers.

As the store would be the first physical location for CafePod, and an experiential and community-driven location nonetheless, it was absolutely essential that the store felt like an extension of the brand itself – bringing CafePod to life on the high street. It was our job at Agile Retail to ensure that, at every stage of the process, the brand ethos was embedded in every element associated with the store, from the equipment on the counter to the customer journey through the store.

It was an exciting chance to work with one of the UK’s leading DTC brands, but beyond that it was an inspiring opportunity to create something entirely new in the coffee space. The result is more than a store – it’s a destination that educates, inspires, and connects coffee lovers, setting a benchmark for how experience-led retail can transform a brand.

Finding the Right Home

When opening a store, the question of where is every bit as important as what you are opening. For a brand’s first-ever store, the decision is even more critical — the location doesn’t just impact early sales, it sets the tone for how the brand is perceived in the physical world. With CafePod, we knew from the outset that one of the most important factors in the success of this unique concept would be its placement in the right environment.

The scouting process was built on three core pillars: the area, the audience, and the adjacencies. Each was non-negotiable. The right area would ensure the store was operating within a neighbourhood that reflected CafePod’s aspirational, quality-driven identity. The right audience would bring in customers who not only loved coffee but were willing to invest in the knowledge needed to brew café-quality drinks at home with CafePod’s exceptional beans. And the right adjacencies — complementary retailers and lifestyle brands — would give the store credibility, positioning it alongside businesses that shared similar values of quality, craft, and community.

We approached the search with a focused scope, narrowing to a tight radius where we knew all three pillars could align. It wasn’t about chasing the busiest high street or the lowest rent; it was about finding a location that would feel like a natural home for CafePod’s first step into retail. We balanced accessibility with brand positioning, ensuring the store would attract day-to-day footfall while also reinforcing the premium nature of the brand.

The resultant site that we selected perfectly embodied this balance. It not only delivered the right demographics and adjacencies but also carried the character and atmosphere that Peter envisioned from the start. More than just a unit to trade from, it became the foundation for an experience-led retail destination — a place where CafePod could bring its digital identity into the physical world, confident that the location itself would support the brand’s long-term growth and success.

Bringing the Store to Life

Once the location was secured, the next challenge was transforming an empty unit into a store that felt unmistakably CafePod. This wasn’t about creating another café or a generic retail fit-out — the ambition was to design a space that captured the brand’s energy, showcased its products, and educated customers at the same time. The build journey was therefore as much about storytelling as it was about construction.

From the outset, we worked closely with Peter and the CafePod team to translate their vision into a physical environment. Every detail mattered. The layout needed to guide customers naturally from browsing beans to testing equipment to taking part in tasting sessions. Fixtures had to balance functionality with style, ensuring products were displayed clearly while maintaining a premium, contemporary feel. The tasting bar — a core feature of the store — was designed not just as a counter but as a stage for education and engagement.

Managing the build meant orchestrating a complex web of suppliers, contractors, and designers. We oversaw procurement and approvals, ensuring every element aligned with brand standards while keeping to timelines and budgets. Sampling and material testing were carried out rigorously to guarantee quality and authenticity, while design decisions were carefully weighed against the customer journey we wanted to deliver.

Staffing also played an important role in the build phase. As the physical environment came together, we were simultaneously preparing the people who would bring it to life day to day. This meant recruiting our coffee experts with the right mix of passion and expertise, then training them in both technical knowledge and customer service so they could embody the brand from the moment the doors opened.

The build was not without its challenges — as with any first-of-its-kind project, details shifted, and refinements were needed along the way. But our role was to absorb those complexities, ensuring the client never lost sight of the bigger picture: a store that would stand as the physical expression of CafePod’s brand ethos.

By the time the build was complete, what had once been a blank canvas had become something entirely new for the UK coffee landscape: an experience-led store designed to inspire, educate, and engage. It was a space that didn’t just house a brand but brought it vividly to life.

From Concept to Community

After months of planning, designing, and building, the moment of truth arrived: opening the doors to CafePod’s first-ever store. For any brand, launch day is a milestone, but for a direct-to-consumer business taking its very first step into physical retail, it’s a transformative moment. This wasn’t just about cutting a ribbon — it was about introducing a new kind of coffee space to the public and proving the concept in real time.

Preparation for the opening was meticulous. Training had been intensive, with the new store team immersed in both coffee expertise and the service style that would set the store apart. Sessions had taken place not only in the store itself but even in Peter Grainger’s own kitchen, where our coffee experts learned the fundamentals of brewing and sharing coffee in an approachable, engaging way. By launch day, staff weren’t just employees — they were ambassadors of the brand.

The store opened to immediate curiosity and excitement. Customers were drawn inside not just to shop but to experience something new: tasting different blends at the brew bar, experimenting with grinders and espresso machines, and discovering brewing methods they had never tried before. The layout we had carefully designed guided visitors seamlessly through the space, turning what could have been a transactional shopping trip into an interactive journey.

The atmosphere was electric. Conversations flowed between staff and customers, equipment demonstrations drew small crowds, and the store quickly established itself as more than a shop — it was a hub. People weren’t just buying coffee; they were staying to learn, to ask questions, to connect with others who shared their passion.

For CafePod, the opening marked the realisation of a dream that had been years in the making. For us at Agile Retail, it was a proud moment to see the entire process — from initial vision to location, build, and team preparation — come together in a way that felt effortless to the customer. Launch day validated the concept and set the tone for what the store would become: a living extension of the brand and a new model for coffee retail in the UK.

Sustaining Success

Launching a store is one milestone, but keeping it running day after day is where long-term success is made. For CafePod, this first store was not just about a one-off launch — it was about establishing a living, breathing space that could consistently deliver on its promise: to inspire customers, educate them, and strengthen their relationship with the brand.

Agile Retail’s role extends well beyond opening day. We manage the full scope of operations — from staffing and training to inventory management, logistics, and ongoing customer experience. The store team are supported with systems and structures that allow them to focus on what matters most: delivering world-class service and creating memorable interactions with every customer who walks through the door.

Central to the operation is the idea that the store should never feel static. It continues to evolve, to remain exciting for both new visitors and returning customers. This means programming regular events such as tasting sessions, equipment demonstrations, and brewing workshops — transforming the store into a community hub where knowledge and passion for coffee can be shared. Each of these touchpoints reinforces CafePod’s positioning as not only a retailer, but as a guide and educator in the home brewing journey.

Operationally, we also ensure that the store supports the brand’s wider goals. Sales performance is monitored not only in-store but also for its “halo effect” on online channels and supermarket distribution in the surrounding area. The result is clear evidence that a physical presence can elevate a brand’s legitimacy, strengthen loyalty, and drive growth across multiple channels simultaneously.

Running the store also means embodying the brand at every level. From the way equipment is merchandised to the tone of customer conversations, every operational decision is made with the CafePod ethos in mind. This attention to detail ensures the store isn’t just a retail outlet, but an extension of everything the brand stands for.

Ultimately, operations are what transform a launch into a legacy. With Agile Retail managing the complexities behind the scenes, CafePod have been able to focus on what they do best: creating exceptional coffee and inspiring more people to enjoy it at home. The store continues to thrive as a model of how experience-led retail can bring a DTC brand to life and sustain its growth well into the future.

From DTC to Destination

CafePod’s first store was more than just a retail launch — it was the transformation of a successful online brand into a physical experience that customers can now see, touch, taste, and be part of. By guiding every stage of the journey — from vision to location, build, opening, and ongoing operations — we helped turn a founder’s dream into a thriving reality on the high street.

This project showed the power of experience-led retail for DTC brands: it builds legitimacy, drives sales both in-store and online, and creates lasting customer loyalty through education and engagement.

If you’re ready to take the leap from digital to physical, or to reimagine how customers experience your brand in-store, we’re here to make it happen.

Agile Retail delivers turnkey solutions that bring bold ideas to life and create spaces where brands truly connect with their customers.