Meet Ramblin’ Joe’s Coffee. It’s that same little coffee shop that used to be called Ugly Mug at 4610 Poplar Avenue at Perkins Extended. Ramblin’ Joe’s is the new name of their shops that sell the familiar Ugly Mug coffee.
“We made a name change,” says Ramblin’ Joe’s owner David Lambert.
But that’s just the store name. “Anything called ‘Ugly Mug,’ we own it. Except the stores. ‘Ugly Mug’ is our online grocery, and we sell Ugly Mug in our stores. The deal is we can’t call the stores themselves ‘Ugly Mug.’”
They also have Ramblin’ Joe’s stores in Nashville and Knoxville, and they plan on opening one or two more in Memphis in the near future.
The recent Grind City Coffee Xpo was “the official launch” of the new store name.
Last March, they hired a franchising company because people were inquiring about opening Ugly Mug franchises. “They came back and said, ‘Hey. We got a problem. Somebody took your trademark.’ I tell you, you could have knocked me off the chair. I had no idea.
“I did not realize trademarks expired. Every 10 years what you have to do is send the U.S. government proof that you’re still using the trademark.”
Their “Ugly Mug” trademark expired a year ago, and somebody picked it up. “It was a guy out in California.”
He was opening a little shop called The Ugly Mug, Lambert says. “They weren’t even open yet. They just got the trademark. I talked to the guy. I said, ‘Hey. This is the deal. We’ve had this brand for 20 years, and we have a lot of credibility built into this brand. I talked to the guy for three months. He just would not deal on this.”
Finally, Lambert thought, “If we want to grow, we have to come up with a new name.” They asked customers to submit names and got about 600.
“I was thinking about ‘Joe.’ ‘Joe’ is a name for coffee. I was driving to Nashville. I turned on the radio. ‘Ramblin’ Man’ was on. The Allman Brothers.”
He thought, “People enjoy going places if the place has a story and some depth to it rather than a place to just buy something.”
So, Lambert came up with a story. “Ramblin’ Joe is basically the coffee taster that works for Ugly Mug coffee. He’s been tasked to go around the country and around the world and find different regional products and bring those flavors back. And we feature those flavors in our Ramblin’ Joe’s coffee choices.”
Lambert and his wife, Kim, found a coffee shop in Maine that sells a salted latte. They now sell a Maine Salted Maple Latte at Ramblin’ Joe’s.
“I guess I’m kind of ramblin’ Joe. We like to travel a lot. We always go places and we find unique products that are regional. We should just, from time to time, have products and coffees that come from other parts of the world.”
And their coffee, including Full Moon latte, which originated in Memphis, will be introduced in other states and countries as they open Ramblin’ Joe’s franchises.
In 1971, Lambert’s dad, Bill Lambert, began Lambert’s Coffee, a non-retail business that services restaurants and offices. In 2005, David purchased the Ugly Mug coffee brand and began selling it online and in stores, including Kroger and Walmart. Around 2015, they started renting the coffee shop on Poplar. “For the past five or six years, we’ve won Best Coffee Shop and Best Coffee Roaster in the Flyer,” he says.
They will open the first Ramblin’ Joe’s franchise in March at Memphis International Airport. “Our focus as a company is going to be more on franchising and expanding Ramblin’ Joe’s and trying to expand it all over the country.”
Lambert wants to give people “a little flavor of Memphis.”
“There are lots of coffee shops in town that are awesome and do a fantastic job. We want to be a little more accessible as a drive-through. We want customers to come to our shop and not only get a great cup of coffee, but get it fast. Good-quality gourmet coffee for the everyday person. For the average Joe.”
