BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
COURTHOUSE — Do you crave a caffeinated beverage with a different twist or a basic brewed coffee?
Perhaps your taste runs more to an iced beverage, chai or hot chocolate.
Whatever you prefer, Cathy and Mitch Peters are offering it at Biggby Coffee, which opened this past month on Princess Anne Road in the Courthouse area near the Virginia Beach Municipal Center.
The opening marked the culmination of a long period of preparation for the couple, who began planning to open a business in 2014.
That year, Mitch Peters, a Michigan native, retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force. The couple moved from Illinois to Virginia Beach, where Cathy Peters had grown up.
Mitch Peters had always dreamed of opening his own business, and he decided that time had arrived after his military retirement.
He wasn’t sure what type of business he wanted, so he and Cathy researched several possibilities before they settled on a Biggby Coffee franchise.
“I’m an entrepreneur by spirit, and I’m from Michigan so I know the brand,” Mitch Peters said. “Now, I have a little bit of Michigan down here.”
Biggby Coffee, which now has more than 300 locations in the U.S., is based in East Lansing, Michigan. Peters frequented Biggby when he was back home visiting relatives. He fell in love with their beverages, so he and Cathy decided that this was the business for them.
The couple searched for a location that offered a drive-through. They settled on a site on Princess Anne Road that formerly housed PNC Bank. For Cathy Peters, the location had a nostalgic feeling, and she fell in love with it for that reason.
“My aunt used to work here when it was an F&M during the 1970s,” she said, “so there was some nostalgia there.”
The couple began the process of opening the coffeehouse in late 2019. Then the Covid pandemic hit, and the plans were put on hold until 2022. After training as baristas, furnishing the building and hiring employees, Cathy and Mitch Peters finally saw their dream come true when they opened this year.
Their menu offerings include lattes, cold beverages such as sweet foam salted caramel cold brew, chai, hot chocolate and energy drinks as well as freeze specials, or icy drinks similar to smoothies.
Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry-flavored beverages are available for children, and food items include muffins and breakfast and lunch sandwiches prepared on “bragels,” the coffeehouse’s own variety of bagels.
Traditional items, including brewed coffee, Americano, café au lait and iced teas, are also offered. As a tribute to Michigan, the coffeehouse offers “Biggby’s Michigan Cherry,” a cherry-flavored coffee.
Still, locals should feel at home, too, because the coffeehouse also serves strawberry-flavored cream freezes, the couple said.
This is Biggby’s first Virginia location, and many customers with Michigan roots are coming in to get a taste of home, including one customer who traveled from Richmond to visit the shop.
“We want people to know that it’s locally owned,” Cathy Peters said.
“We just try to integrate into the community and be part of the community,” Mitch Peters said.
Virginia Beach resident Kristen Cobbett is a loyal customer who was recently hired as an employee.
The Michigan native was “super excited” when she learned that a Biggby’s had opened here, and she decided that she wanted to be a part of it.
“I like the variety,” Cobbett said. “There are so many different choices.”
Biggby Coffee is located at 2422 Princess Anne Road. It’s open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
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