Compass Coffee’s ownership transition process is continuing to move forward, months after the U.K.-based coffeehouse chain Caffè Nero purchased the struggling D.C.-area brand.
On Monday, Caffè Nero applied for a commercial building permit at Compass Coffee’s drive-thru location at 4710 Langston Blvd. The permit is part of the ownership transfer process and is “not connected to any change to store appearance,” a Caffè Nero spokesperson clarified.
“When we bought the stores, the permits for those stores under the old name expired and they had to issue new ones to trade under our company,” the spokesperson said. “So it’s nothing more than a permit to trade. It isn’t part of any permission to change the name or make adjustments.”
Caffè Nero purchased Compass Coffee at auction in February, just a month after the coffee chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Amid the cafe’s financial turbulence, it shuttered several D.C.-area locations, including cafes in Falls Church and Ballston.
In addition to the Langston Blvd cafe, three more Compass Coffee locations remain along the Ballston-Rosslyn corridor.
Since the acquisition, Caffè Nero has avoided major changes to the remaining Compass Coffee spots, with a focus on expanding operational hours at some locations while addressing maintenance issues, according to the Washington Business Journal.
That included completing repairs to the Rosslyn cafe’s plumbing system around late March.
“It’s more of the emergency items that were delayed because of the lack of funding, so we’re going in and trying to fix them, both for the customers’ happiness and for the teams’ happiness,” Michael Ford-Deegan, global director at Caffè Nero, previously told WBJ.
It’s unclear when the Caffè Nero might start to overhaul its Compass Coffee properties. The spokesperson did not return a request for comment on rebranding plans.
Compass Coffee opened the Langston Blvd location in 2022, making waves as the brand’s first drive-thru in the region.
