Coffee shops with a high-end design blend

Efficient FF&E procurement for a fast-growing hospitality business

With a lean design team, ambitious growth plans and fast turn-around times, Brooklyn-based Blank Street found Clippings to be the ideal furniture and lighting procurement partner for their UK expansion. The unique combination of a procurement platform and tailored services allows Blank Street to spend minimal time specifying and ordering products. 

Blank Street was founded in Brooklyn in the summer 2020 and, in spring 2022, came to the UK with ambitious growth plans. Their concept of serving high-quality coffee at an accessible price point proved to be a hit in Manhattan and Brooklyn – an offering which caffeine-loving Londoners couldn't resist either. By the end of 2022, Blank Street had opened 13 stores in the UK's capital.

Finding sleek designs for an approachable interior concept

When Paola Han started as Global Design Director at Blank Street Coffee, she was one of the initial hires in the London office. In her first weeks, Paola was creating the layouts and interiors of the first London locations. With only weeks to complete a store concept, she was eager to be as efficient as possible with the furniture specification. The ambition was to use high-quality, design-led products in line with Blank Street's creative guidelines. 

‘We don’t want to overdesign’, explains Paola on the Blank Street approach. ‘The interior needs to be straightforward and feel very approachable. The whole design mirrors the quality of the coffee and the skill of our baristas. The colours in each shop complement fern green, which is our primary brand colour.’

Sourcing multiple brands through one supplier 

Paola approached Clippings to help with the furniture and lighting procurement, as she knew Clippings from her time as creative director at WeWork. ‘I tried Clippings because their team is able to reach out to so many different brands', Paola says. 'I knew it was going to make the design process easier. So I started looking and searching for furniture pieces on the platform that would complement the design we had in mind.’

Streamlined workflow for speedy results

At Blank Street, deadlines are tight once a site has been leased. ‘We usually have two to three weeks to complete the entire design’, says Paola. But with so many coffee shops already completed, the workflow is now very streamlined. Paola notes: ‘We more or less use the same furniture throughout all the shops unless it's a unique location with a different setup. Then we add a few new items. Once we’re done with a store design, we go to Clippings, create a project and add all the items there. That usually takes one hour – the platform is so straightforward.’

‘Clippings helps us to be very efficient. They liaise with all the different bands for us. We’d lose so much time following up on orders and tracking deliveries, but with Clippings, it’s so simple.’

Admin and logistics handled by the Clippings team

Since starting working with Clippings, Blank Street work with senior account manager Jake to answer any last-minute questions. Additionally, Clippings project manager Martina Terracciano keeps an eye on all orders with the various Blank Street suppliers and ensures that all deliveries arrive onsite on the agreed date. ‘Jake and Martina have been great’, says Paola. ‘It’s been very simple with Clippings.’