Saxbys Tries To Become Philly’s Home-Grown Starbucks

Philadelphia Business Journal reports that hometown-based Saxbys Coffee will open 13 new locations this year, with half in and around the Philadelphia market. That builds on the 27 shops already in existence—and the beginning of a climb back from the company’s 2009 bankruptcy.

Outside the Philly area, PBJ reports, the new locations will be in Washington , D.C., North Carolina, and Ohio.  “The Mid-Atlantic is still our bread-and-butter — our coffee-and-cream, if you will. It’s our No. 1 market,” CEO Nick Bayer told the paper.

No word on whether the new franchises will duplicate the move by the store at 20th and Walnut streets to install iPads permanentsly at several tables, in order to assist customers and keep them engaged. Word to wise students and freelancers: That location also has some of the strongest wifi signals of any establishment in town.