From Collingwood to coffee king: Nick Stone’s excellent American adventure

New York: Nick Stone’s vision to elevate Australian coffee culture in the US began in a subterranean basement in midtown Manhattan exactly 10 years ago.

There was no signage marking the presence of his new cafe. There was no street visibility or even a sandwich board propped up on the footpath of Third Avenue, directing passers-by to come inside.

Bluestone Lane owner Nick Stone.

In fact, the only way you could find the place was if someone took you there or if you’d heard about it, says Stone, a former AFL football player-turned-banker who is now the chief executive of Bluestone Lane.

“It was this little hidden oasis – the quintessential hole-in-the-wall, elusive coffee shop that you’d find in the CBD in Melbourne or Sydney, and it was just around the corner from where I was working on Park Avenue,” he tells this masthead in an interview marking the 10-year anniversary of the Australian-inspired cafe.

“It was just a word-of-mouth venue, and it was successful straight out of the gate.”

One decade after Bluestone Lane’s first location opened in New York, the business has grown from one nondescript store in the city that never sleeps, to more than 55 across America: from Houston in Texas and West Hollywood in LA, to San Francisco and Washington DC.

Nick Stone and Gordon Ramsay on the set of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.

Despite almost being “obliterated” in the global pandemic, it now employs about 800 staff and has an annual revenue of more than $100 million.

Celebrity visitors include Taylor Swift, Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Jackman, while Stone himself last week featured as a special guest on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars, a reality TV show searching for the next food and drink entrepreneur.

And all the while, the business has stayed true to its philosophy, he says: to give the US an experience that is about more than just caffeine.

Smashed avo: an Australian coffee culture favourite

“When we first opened, there was a demand for better quality coffee and better quality food, but most importantly, a place where you walk in and feel like a local – not a customer,” says Stone.

“That is what they call ‘Australian coffee culture’. Yes, coffee is a product, with an independent, artisanal commitment – but the most critical thing about our coffee culture is the element of community. You’re not just an intangible, transactional customer: it’s relationship orientated.”

American breakfasts tend to be dominated by the usual staples: scrambled eggs; crispy bacon or sausage; waffles, hash browns, and toast.

A good Australian cafe breakfast, on the other hand, will focus on high-quality seasonal ingredients, often with smaller but tastier portions: smashed avo with a sprinkle of feta here; a soft chilli scramble garnished with micro herbs there.

And then, of course, there’s the coffee itself – from trademark flat whites to piccolo espressos or cold brews – noticeably different from the stock-standard variety found at Starbucks, the global coffee giant that controls about 37 per cent of the market share in the US.

Its biggest rival, Dunkin’ Donuts, has about 26 per cent of the market.

This is partly why Stone decided to create Bluestone Lane in 2013, despite having no experience in hospitality.

“At that point in time, I’m pretty sure Starbucks’ market capitalisation was like $US90 billion – basically selling a product none of us would choose to drink unless it was out of absolute necessity,” he says.

“I figured there must be more people like me that are looking for something better.”

Nick Stone: his business grew out of his pursuit of a degree.

After several years in the AFL – he was recruited by Collingwood before being drafted to Hawthorn and St Kilda – Stone ended up doing a Masters of Finance before eventually making his way to Fordham Business School in New York.

As part of an entrepreneurship class, he was asked to come up with an idea for a business, and was originally going to pitch a tech venture based on flash sale sites that were “all the rage” at the time, such as Groupon or Living Social.

Fortunately, he opted for a cafe instead, drawing on the kind of customer experience you’d get in the bluestone-paved laneways of his home town, Melbourne – hence the name of the business.

Asked how he reckons the US coffee landscape has changed over the years, Stone replies: “We’re still in an early education phase, but it has improved.”

Bluestone Lane in Venice, California.

“In the major metropolitan markets there has definitely been a significant increase in the amount of what they call ‘third or fourth wave’ coffee shops and cafes (which focus less on convenience and more on quality), while in New York, where our headquarters is, the landscape has dramatically changed.”

“And really, no one’s had a bigger impact than the Australians. It’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

So too is Bluestone Lane, which, along with other Australian-inspired cafes – such as Hole in the Wall, Two Hands and Ruby’s – is now an integral part of America’s coffee scene.

NBA champion and three-time Olympian ​Patty Mills is a brand ambassador, while Gumbaynggirr artist and young activist Aretha Brown recently unveiled her latest work at the cafe’s Dumbo store in Brooklyn, earning the praise of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is now Australia’s man in Washington.

And Stone also achieved his own milestone a few years ago during the global pandemic: finally learning how to make coffee.

“COVID had some silver linings, even though I didn’t think so at the time because we went from 51 stores down to effectively 13,” he says.

“But with so many stores closed and the restricted ability to go to cafes and coffee shops, I ended up getting one of our spare machines that our events team use …

“I even ended up working a number of shifts during the pandemic as I was so desperate not to close stores.

“I should have probably done it earlier, but sometimes it takes an existential crisis to reskill and get on the tools.”

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