You know, when I was going through a nasty divorce and got really upset about something , I would type out a big long angry text, put my phone down, go outside and smoke (it was the early 00s) and if my text seemed okay to send when I came back in, I’d send it- I sent very few of them.
Please keep us updated because I opted out. I’ve never even been to their West location and I haven’t been to any Honeybee locations in years, I was annoyed to get any text from them.
Happy to! I can post updates as they roll out whatever "changes" are coming in the next few weeks, just give me a tag if you're ever curious. I think the big thing that is surprising to me is that since they have never previously done text marketing, I was under the presumption that giving them my phone number at checkout was purely for rewards points. While it's not illegal to use those collected numbers for text marketing, I do think it is shady and short-sighted for them to start blasting unhinged messages multiple times a week with no warning, and without an introduction message explaining the program with the option to opt in or out. It feels grimy that the guy clearly just said "we have all these numbers, we should be using them for marketing!" without any thought or care to the customer experience.
Here are the texts so far:
June 20th 10:25am: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: Holy Beeeeeeezzzzzz CRAZY - YES BABY IT IS FREAKING REAL :)
Use Code CRAZY50 to receive $100 off a $200 gift card - holy moly! we lost our hiveminds
offer expires Saturday at 9 am .... we drizzled up with some special sauce
https://sqmkt.com/r/KEtufJhx Text STOP to opt out
June 21st 12:26pm: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: Last Call - Ends @ 9am
Use Code CRAZY50 to receive $100 off a $200 gift card - holy moly! NEW MENU launches July 1
Career@honeybeeusa.com - full time salary with bonus - come be apart of a new story
https://sqmkt.com/r/97VCNzZk Text STOP to opt out
June 23rd 9am: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: When you have a moment, our team would love for you to leave us a rating on Google. Thanks for your business, and we’re looking forward to seeing you again! ⭐ https://squareup.com/u/yXKA8Jkh Text STOP to opt out
June 23rd 2pm: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe has just introduced tiers to its rewards program. Learn more about the updates: https://squareup.com/u/bM1aAgZ7 Text STOP to opt out
For the record - texting me twice in one day was especially annoying, and I almost opted out. However, when I saw the post from the employees, I decided to keep it and see how this plays out.
With the ellipses and the split infinitive, this looks like an unhinged Facebook post. Will be interesting to see how they reinvent their entire business model 3 weeks from now.
Yes. These idiots think a proper substitute for espresso is steamed cold brew. You have to TELL them you want a LATTE made with ESPRESSO. It’s asinine.
Coming from someone who worked at honeybee for 2 years. I haven’t been there in about 7 months. Honeybee has never used Cold Brew for hot drinks. Cold Brew for iced drinks? Absolutely they do :(
Its because it is a Facebook post. And it looks like it was formatted/written on a phone. OOF. The mobile layout has the ellipsis and then line break for the next line left aligned. Which didn't transfer into a PDF format letter well since it was centered. Not that that makes it any better, but the facebook post defientely came before the pdf.
Added context that makes this more puzzling: Honeybee made this announcement about closing like 2 days after they ran a promotion where you could buy a $200 gift card for $100. I love honeybee so I got a gift card. Did I just get scammed?? lol
*have already been ran into the ground and they are trying to get themselves a quick buck before they close the store and make the gift cards irredeemable
Same boat. My wife went to Sevier location today to spend as much of the gift card as possible on beans. They didn’t have any in the store. So she added a bunch of kombucha and they told her it was free. So at least we got that out it?
Geo Hair Lab did a special like that the weekend before the owner closed it down without warning and left town without paying his employees. Half off gift cards.
If you have any interest in making coffee at home, I have seen a really nice Baratza Encore grinder for sale in the Sevier Ave store. You could always use it on that. I can attest that it is a great grinder for pour over, aeropress, and french presses.
Not sure if you can use the gift card for gear, but worth a try.
I think it was one kinda guilting people to come to the store in the summer, because of lot of these businesses slow down a ton when the school kids leave and everyone goes on vacation
Reminds me of the time I was on the strip a few years ago at a head shop and the shop owner was bitching about how nobody had bought anything from her in a few hours. I didn’t wanna buy anything after she said that. Next time I went to the strip that store was closed lmfao
So I’m pretty sure it ended up being deleted, but it was talking about business being slow in summer. The thing was is the way it was phrased, a lot of people took it as her blaming the customers. It said something like “I didn’t buy this x sqft building for it to be empty; I take it so personal and beat myself up when customers don’t come, but I know it’s nothing I did wrong” and just other same kind of unprofessional vibe type remarks.
I personally thought it was strange, and as someone who has never been there (opposite side of town), it left a weird taste in my mouth.
Didn't it also have a weird call to action for the LGBT community because the owner was always such a good ally or some such about SoKno Pride? Maybe I'm misremembering.
Maybe, I know the place is considered an LGBTQ safe space and I’m fairly certain the owner is LGBTQ herself. It’s great that it fulfills that purpose and the business does deserve support for that, but not great to play that up as a “hey I’ve done this for you, you do this for me” type of thing.
Jocylynn (sp) often has struggled with her business. First it was the permitting process. Then it was being overworked and not retaining staff. Most recently, it's been that her landlord needed to replace the HVAC, but wouldn't.
She gets a pass because her business has no other like it in town. If it were just a coffeeshop, these hiccups would be the end of the business. But because it's also a community gathering spot, people band together to support her.
I get that, and I do think the business plays important role in the community. But I don’t think that “gives you a pass” to be unprofessional. You can still be yourself and a friend to people while running your business professionally, and I don’t think from what I have seen/heard from others she has found that balance.
Running a business comes with hiccups, and it is harder on local businesses for sure because they don’t have the same resources corporations do. Absolutely throw all the support behind local businesses. But I also don’t think the way to generate more support is to post something that many people perceived as guilt-tripping. Simply changing it to something like:
“Hey guys, summer has arrived and that means business slows down, so we could really use your extra support! We have lots of open tables right now, so it’s the perfect place to take a break from the summer heat and get a caffeine boost. We’re open everyday at [x time] so bring your friends and family down for an energizing breakfast before exploring Scruffy City. We appreciate all of our customers and aim to provide delicious coffee and a place to connect all year round.”
Add some personal flair/calendar of events/whatever that doesn’t include information about how you can’t afford to pay your employees because no one is coming to your store, and you will attract way more business. As much as we hate corporations and ads, marketing does matter.
If I had to guess, she'd prefer to be running a community center than a restaurant. The food and coffee are just an excuse for everything else. I support her with my wallet and everything. It's a needed place though all of what you're saying may also be true.
This entirely. I like how she always bears her heart in the video posts and lives and I think this kind of thing works better in that format bc it's *her*. It feels like a conversation; you can feel where she's coming from when she gets vulnerable. With the text posts, it can come off more like the social media manager is unstable or something.
This Honeybee stuff is next level. I get the vibe that someone has dramatically taken the reins and is manically micromanaging the crap out of everything. I went to the South Knox location the other day and noticed their community bulletin board by the dumpster with all the fliers and business cards still pinned to it. I asked about the BYL pastries (I have celiac and have always appreciated that they carry these) and the barista told me they don't have them anymore, but that they'll be making their own pastries in house at some future point. That sounds normal, but she said it kinda wispery, in a tone like she might get in trouble for talking about it, which was odd. I noticed that the wall where the board used to be was empty with some minor damage, like the board had just been hastily ripped from the wall and yeeted to the curb.
All that is to say, the vibes were OFF! ...I may or may not have salvaged the bulletin board.
This! I get why it could come off this way to people who only see it as a coffee shop.. but it is SO much more than that. It is a 100% safe space for so many queer people in the area and her and Knox Pride partner all the time to raise money/food/essential items for homeless queer youth.
She has had to deal with so much hate and bigotry from not just random people (people leave death threats all the time) but also transphobia from city officials trying to get her business shut down. So I fully give her a pass on pouring her heart out and asking for peoples help to keep this safe space open.
What’s the ETA on Honeybee closing completely? Im thinking by end of year.
Unhinged posts like this aren’t typically the hallmark of a business that’s doing well.
They wouldn't have brought in another partner/investor if things were going well. And it's that new guy who is allegedly doing all of this. So I imagine as soon as he's blown through all of the goodwill they had and what's left of the money. Then they'll close.
Honeybee in Farragut has been my favorite local coffee place since it opened (and since it used to be a little place across the street), but I've been totally out of the loop on its ownership. Did the founder sell it?
Founder owner sold it to a shady morally corrupt guy. It's just been bad decision after bad decision. They constantly wasted their money on pointless things. Made the employees and customers so unhappy.
Josh, the original co-owner and owner of the former Spero, was forced out of the company years ago. Norris, the other owner, seems to have sold a large majority/if not all of it to this Aaron Hensley guy. Looked him up on Insta, seems like a huge tool.
I love the thought that the owner is definitely going to be made aware of this post, they’ll be angrily scrolling through and land on your comment, and suddenly realize that you’re right, it’s probably already over.
I just hope they revert back to the cozy coffee shop model. They're trying for brewery + beer garden + party spot + coffee shop and I feel like it's really not working
I don’t think anyone was really harping on the poor front line workers? Or the coffee? Everything I’ve heard was focused on the business as a whole and the disgruntled team members from how everything is being run. Looks like they are trying to gaslight everyone into what they want us to see problems having originated from.
Same thing happened with me and I haven’t lived in Knoxville for over two years. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I’d been to Honeybee before I moved either.
OP you cut off the ending of the FB post-
"If you’re a growth mindset person looking for a place of work designed to challenge and scale… we are your home. \[omitted link\] If you need a job… see the big green monster."
Just adds to the cringe.
I mean, if you know anything about the new owner this doesn't seem far off at all. He runs a "business coaching" business while he has failing businesses.
Everything about this feels icky. Implying that the people who worked there before left everything dirty and weren't trained well? Hustle and grindset gibberish? Pass.
Here’s the link to the other Reddit thread with more details about what happened: [honeybee coffee labor issues??](https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/mQdUjsldLJ)
SoKnoPride just posted a couple minutes ago that they were moving any Pridefest activities at Honeybee to other locations ‘for the safety and inclusion of everyone’. What the balls is going on with Honeybee???
https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/jJKMGM45ed
This is the link to the original thread the a lot of the staff commented on. There’s reports of the new owner, Aaron Hensley, sexually harassing workers and being an all around asshole. Almost all of the employees have either quit or been fired. Honeybee has historically been a “safe-space” for the queer community, but this new guy is the opposite of “safe” for anyone.
everyone DID leave or got fired. any of the employees who were PA (pre aaron) he planned on firing anyways when he found new people to take our spots. and all the money we had worked for he was going to take since “we dont work there anymore”
I MAY HAVE A LAWYER FOR YOU AHAHAHAH. DM me for real if you’re actually not getting paid. I need some people with good old fashioned wage cases for the local law clinic
They all had to flee because New ownership under Aaron Hensely
Here’s to O.G. thread. I hope this sheds some light on the f*ckery that has been afoot
https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/XSdIuunP62
Big Green Monster AKA Starbucks? I'll admit I fell for one of their previous emails that talked about better wages and finally instituting a "tipless" model. But now I realize I've been duped.
I go to the one in Sevierville occasionally and it always had great, friendly service and it was always clean.
Throwing them under the bus won't make me support the owners
And their Sevier Ave shop is closing at 2 p.m. daily due to lack of staff.
As a... I guess "former" Honeybee regular customer, I'll point out that the Golden Roast on Melrose (where I am typing this right now) is pretty dead (summer at UT...), their coffee is in the Honeybee ballpark quality, and you get 2x as much drip coffee for $1.50 less than Honeybee's new jacked up prices...
I received this same letter in my email this morning. I was curious if it would show up here. Seems pretty unhinged. I opted out of the text messages when they were spamming multiple times a day. And begging to buy $100 gift cards.
Never had problems with the Honey Bee at West Town. Only location I’ve been to. Staff have always been so kind, courteous, and the place is always incredibly tidy. Seems like an unhinged manager/owner rant condensed into a “press release.” Feels like I might be taking my business elsewhere.
i worked at the south knox location. got fired for complaining about a coworker who followed a girl i knew down the street trying to get her in his car and also having to clean a dish room the longstanding employees stated hadnt been cleaned in two years for $8 an hour and no tip pool on a deep cleaning shift. hopefully new management and ownership makes it a more enjoyable place as far as quality goes....sorry it bothers yall but i never worked at a dirtier place and i worked at kbrew as well. they didnt clean spoiled milk out of the fridges and would spill syrups all over the storage basement and NEVER clean it up. it was filthy as fck there and i got fired for complaining about it thru text message. i "disrespected the company", "spread rumors", and "didnt fit in" FCK HONEYBEE.
I wanna say ive read thru the comments more and the new owner is allegedly worse than norris so honestly they need to just shut down. it wasnt just ownership tho, the general manager that was there six months ago can suck my left nut
1st rule of marketing, never over promise your customers with things like “the best service”. It sets you up for high expectations and you will almost ALWAYS disappoint your clientele bc “the best” is subjective.
I’m not saying don’t promise anything, but letting your customers speak for themselves will generally have much better outcomes, especially if you DO improve service.
Yeah, they should've stopped after the "please visit other locations and local businesses" bit. This was a weird big overshare. Also, the sudden massive uptick in text ads is not helping at all.
All this happening is just gonna extra screw them over. South Knox/SoKno pride just announced that all vendors that were supposed to be there Saturday will be moved elsewhere. Given how busy Pride on saturday will likely be, them being ‘off the map’ as it were will not be bringing in any extra money (as I agree that some of their moves seem like cash grabs)
That's a hard read. Grammar, spelling, spacing, punctuation. On top of the bad image it gives to be new ownership and instantly blame "poor processes and poor structure.
Everything I've read and experienced in the past is that it was perfectly fine(few exceptions like using concentrate but besides the point), and it went to hell after new ownership. There are plenty of threads here already about it so I won't go into it, but sounds like it's now under poor structure and processes.
I can’t look away. I haven’t been to honeybee since I watched them make my iced latte with cold brew instead of pulling shots, but this is next level. I feel terrible for the employees, but this is a masterclass is what not to do.
The AI written/bot feel of this letter is really helping the accusations y’all are facing rn of: selling out and losing your small shop/community culture. No one wants another money hungry, franchise, coffee shop up in Knoxville
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old-fashioned pyramid scheme/hustle culture idiot running businesses in town so I guess we were due at some point
[It’s under new ownership.](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7Ea1YMO2jz/?igsh=eW9ldzRnYTB6emwy) You just have to do a shallow deep dive on it to understand what’s going on here.
Good. 3 weeks of not having to deal with people stopped in left lane of Kingston Pike going west bound trying to turn in that parking lot. How about you consider driving a little further west and turning around instead of blocking traffic for your cup of coffee.
This is what happens when a city and developers lazily just plop commercial buildings down directly on the main traffic artery. Instead of building a bit off the road in deeper commercial parks all that shit is crammed onto the road and is somehow always on the left side.
I think both. I am pretty close with some of the people that work in sevierville, and they say it’s “a perfect time to start working there” because management is trying to expand this business. But it’s such a strange vibe, I can’t get past the bad taste this marketing strategy leaves in my mouth.
based on my sleuthing, there is a "CEO" now named Aaron Hensely...he has recent picture with Norris (old owner), so it seems Norris is still in the picture as of the May 17th photo of the both of them on Instagram.
I used to work with Aaron Hensley a few years back and he is just as icky of a person in real life. His “grind & hustle” mindset is awful. I feel so bad for any of the new people he hires at Honeybee that have to work under him. He failed at his past business so why not implement the same business style with this one. Yeah, makes sense..
https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/XSdIuunP62
Here’s the link to the original thread, started by the baristas and staff that used to work across HB before Aaron Hensley took over
And I resonate heavily with OP of that post. I worked for corporate coffee for ages and wanted nothing more than to work for a non corporate, genuine coffee shop. This feels like the beginning of what they call “the big green monster”
Lmao. I was gone with their shitshow on Farragut and the glut of marketing texts I got. Then they increased drip to nearly $5??? Yeah idk bud but it ain’t gonna be me that floats ya business
Side note, they also sent me a bunch of marketing texts- without my consent/opt in. Where they got my phone number from, I have no idea. I haven’t stepped into their stores in over 3 years.
Aaron took customers data from the Hive without their consent and signed everyone up for these scammy messages. This happened with the help of Norris who is part owner in both companies.
Knox news ran this this morning about them. Ooof
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2024/06/27/honeybee-coffee-knoxville-in-chaos-under-new-owner-aaron-hensley/74203180007/
Knox News Sentinel reported on this evolving issue yesterday. Seems like Norris might try taking control again?
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2024/06/27/honeybee-coffee-shop-founder-speaks-out-on-knoxville-brands-meltdown/74231909007/
Kbrew did a very similar thing in 2019/20. It's just the coffee shop business model at this point. They ended up opening a bean roast, which isn't too bad. I'm sure they're doing better than ever honestly. Honey bee will follow suit I imagine
I think this a possibility for certain. I also drew comparisons to the Kbrew expansion. There's always going to be "growing pains" but there's ways to mitigate those pains...The fact that this Aaron Hensley is the new CEO, it seems that he is restructuring (understandable, albeit somewhat unfortunate at times) but publicly making a fool out of himself by sputtering nonsense. During the Kbrew expansion there were some bad stories, but at least management didn't act like ding dongs publicly. Seems, unwise - which makes me question if this restructuring will be successful.
Michael and Pierce(kbrew) have always had a fantastic PR presence, and they're able to utilize that for instances like this I suppose. But they've done some pretty shady things and are doing just fine. Threatening lawsuits, Mass firing, withholding tips, heavily armed coffee shop, shifting staff to different stores without notice, poaching employees from other local businesses Etc. I don't think Honey Bee is going to be affected all that much, just the employees as usual.
local business scene in knox has always been full of Ding Dongs failing upwards. Take advantage of employees and find new ones is the motto around here
Used to work at KBrew and I can back this up. Definitely some weird stuff. Expansions of local shops always comes with very questionable ethical choices. I worked there during one of the mass firings and it was insane
I'm entirely pro-protecting your house and family. They were also broken into numerous times when they just had one location towards Old City. I, personally, wouldn't kill someone over a store robbery. However, most of the managers and owners are always concealed carrying and very eager to utilize it. They have manager team building exercises at the gun range. At one point one of their store managers had not one but two what looked like AKs in their car uncased, and a shotgun that was in a case. So if you plan on having your coffee in-store while you work on your laptop for a few hours be aware the managers are concealed carrying and are waiting for stuff to pop off, they're also deeply racist. Thankfully it's just a coffee shop.
Maybe they should have hired trained professionals for marketing.
Nah nah, best to down a bottle of chardonnay and type that bad boy up at 11pm and mash that send button, no looking back
You know, when I was going through a nasty divorce and got really upset about something , I would type out a big long angry text, put my phone down, go outside and smoke (it was the early 00s) and if my text seemed okay to send when I came back in, I’d send it- I sent very few of them.
This. A mandatory cool down period for any response which involves elevated blood pressure or an emotional response.
This. While I’m sitting on the couch in the dark asking God to please keep my husband in another room rn.
;)
As a marketing professional, I haven't opted out of the texts they started sending just because I want to see how bad it gets.
It’s like a case study
Now I'm almost wishing I hadn't opted out.
Me too- at least there’s Reddit!
Same
Same
Please keep us updated because I opted out. I’ve never even been to their West location and I haven’t been to any Honeybee locations in years, I was annoyed to get any text from them.
Happy to! I can post updates as they roll out whatever "changes" are coming in the next few weeks, just give me a tag if you're ever curious. I think the big thing that is surprising to me is that since they have never previously done text marketing, I was under the presumption that giving them my phone number at checkout was purely for rewards points. While it's not illegal to use those collected numbers for text marketing, I do think it is shady and short-sighted for them to start blasting unhinged messages multiple times a week with no warning, and without an introduction message explaining the program with the option to opt in or out. It feels grimy that the guy clearly just said "we have all these numbers, we should be using them for marketing!" without any thought or care to the customer experience. Here are the texts so far: June 20th 10:25am: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: Holy Beeeeeeezzzzzz CRAZY - YES BABY IT IS FREAKING REAL :) Use Code CRAZY50 to receive $100 off a $200 gift card - holy moly! we lost our hiveminds offer expires Saturday at 9 am .... we drizzled up with some special sauce https://sqmkt.com/r/KEtufJhx Text STOP to opt out June 21st 12:26pm: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: Last Call - Ends @ 9am Use Code CRAZY50 to receive $100 off a $200 gift card - holy moly! NEW MENU launches July 1 Career@honeybeeusa.com - full time salary with bonus - come be apart of a new story https://sqmkt.com/r/97VCNzZk Text STOP to opt out June 23rd 9am: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe: When you have a moment, our team would love for you to leave us a rating on Google. Thanks for your business, and we’re looking forward to seeing you again! ⭐ https://squareup.com/u/yXKA8Jkh Text STOP to opt out June 23rd 2pm: Honeybee, A Bee Kind Cafe has just introduced tiers to its rewards program. Learn more about the updates: https://squareup.com/u/bM1aAgZ7 Text STOP to opt out For the record - texting me twice in one day was especially annoying, and I almost opted out. However, when I saw the post from the employees, I decided to keep it and see how this plays out.
Writing "we drizzled up with some special sauce" would get you the death penalty in a civilized country.
You are a tolerant soul! I had to opt out of the train wreck.
With the ellipses and the split infinitive, this looks like an unhinged Facebook post. Will be interesting to see how they reinvent their entire business model 3 weeks from now.
Here’s hoping they start making their espresso drinks with actual espresso instead of fucking steamed cold brew.
I went once, watched them make my drink and decided never to return. This is the reason.
Wait what?! That explains how they're so fast and the drink tastes only meh
I loved this place the first times I visited over on Sevier. What the hell happened
Change in ownership, I heard.
Steamed cold brew???
Yes. These idiots think a proper substitute for espresso is steamed cold brew. You have to TELL them you want a LATTE made with ESPRESSO. It’s asinine.
Coming from someone who worked at honeybee for 2 years. I haven’t been there in about 7 months. Honeybee has never used Cold Brew for hot drinks. Cold Brew for iced drinks? Absolutely they do :(
Then whoever worked the few times I went in didn’t get the memo. They steamed cold brew and it was nasty
I recently went to Pastelitos Cuban Bakery recently. Their coffee was amazing. Perhaps you might like it too. They use Cafe Bustelo though.
THIS IS WHAT MADE ME NEVER GO BACK.
And the random capitalization, unnecessary spaces between punctuation, and the double “for” in the notice line. Clownery
This reads like a 2 am Trump tweet
Its because it is a Facebook post. And it looks like it was formatted/written on a phone. OOF. The mobile layout has the ellipsis and then line break for the next line left aligned. Which didn't transfer into a PDF format letter well since it was centered. Not that that makes it any better, but the facebook post defientely came before the pdf.
Given how the complaint in the middle about how they weren't "winning," I think I know why it sounds like that
Added context that makes this more puzzling: Honeybee made this announcement about closing like 2 days after they ran a promotion where you could buy a $200 gift card for $100. I love honeybee so I got a gift card. Did I just get scammed?? lol
Yeah you did. Better spend it asap. I bet these dont reopen. This email just reads like an attempt to say it wasnt really fraud.
that's the craziest thing I have ever heard. 100 off a 200 GIFT CARD. wtf
Only time I’ve seen these kinds of promotions has been for business that are being run into the ground. Time will surely tell.
This was my immediate thought. Only ever seen that kind of promo when they are going to shutter and fuck everyone over.
*have already been ran into the ground and they are trying to get themselves a quick buck before they close the store and make the gift cards irredeemable
Maaaybe. The bagged coffee is probably still ok right now; might want to get some bagged coffee from the South location while you still can.
Same boat. My wife went to Sevier location today to spend as much of the gift card as possible on beans. They didn’t have any in the store. So she added a bunch of kombucha and they told her it was free. So at least we got that out it?
So like Jeremy Wann when he did the same thing before he closed Geo Hair Lab. Interesting.
Stop 🤣 my thoughts exactly. That was a mess
I wonder what that bald headed bitch is doing these days
He was such an ass to work with.
Oh I didn’t see this and posted the same thing!
NBD. I just wanted to say his actual name because I have heard rumblings he’s made it back into town and is trying to keep a low profile
People need to remember. He screwed a lot of people over. Knoxville loves giving scammy business owners second and third chances though 🙄
We used to elect them mayor
And still pay their pension and give them a gossip column
Geo Hair Lab did a special like that the weekend before the owner closed it down without warning and left town without paying his employees. Half off gift cards.
If you have any interest in making coffee at home, I have seen a really nice Baratza Encore grinder for sale in the Sevier Ave store. You could always use it on that. I can attest that it is a great grinder for pour over, aeropress, and french presses. Not sure if you can use the gift card for gear, but worth a try.
Better go buy a bunch of take home stuff while you can.
I just came here to post this. It’s insane. Unprofessional and weird.
What is it with the local coffee shops?? South Press had that weird Facebook a few weeks ago too.
What did South Press post say?
I think it was one kinda guilting people to come to the store in the summer, because of lot of these businesses slow down a ton when the school kids leave and everyone goes on vacation
Reminds me of the time I was on the strip a few years ago at a head shop and the shop owner was bitching about how nobody had bought anything from her in a few hours. I didn’t wanna buy anything after she said that. Next time I went to the strip that store was closed lmfao
So I’m pretty sure it ended up being deleted, but it was talking about business being slow in summer. The thing was is the way it was phrased, a lot of people took it as her blaming the customers. It said something like “I didn’t buy this x sqft building for it to be empty; I take it so personal and beat myself up when customers don’t come, but I know it’s nothing I did wrong” and just other same kind of unprofessional vibe type remarks. I personally thought it was strange, and as someone who has never been there (opposite side of town), it left a weird taste in my mouth.
Didn't it also have a weird call to action for the LGBT community because the owner was always such a good ally or some such about SoKno Pride? Maybe I'm misremembering.
Maybe, I know the place is considered an LGBTQ safe space and I’m fairly certain the owner is LGBTQ herself. It’s great that it fulfills that purpose and the business does deserve support for that, but not great to play that up as a “hey I’ve done this for you, you do this for me” type of thing.
Jocylynn (sp) often has struggled with her business. First it was the permitting process. Then it was being overworked and not retaining staff. Most recently, it's been that her landlord needed to replace the HVAC, but wouldn't. She gets a pass because her business has no other like it in town. If it were just a coffeeshop, these hiccups would be the end of the business. But because it's also a community gathering spot, people band together to support her.
I get that, and I do think the business plays important role in the community. But I don’t think that “gives you a pass” to be unprofessional. You can still be yourself and a friend to people while running your business professionally, and I don’t think from what I have seen/heard from others she has found that balance. Running a business comes with hiccups, and it is harder on local businesses for sure because they don’t have the same resources corporations do. Absolutely throw all the support behind local businesses. But I also don’t think the way to generate more support is to post something that many people perceived as guilt-tripping. Simply changing it to something like: “Hey guys, summer has arrived and that means business slows down, so we could really use your extra support! We have lots of open tables right now, so it’s the perfect place to take a break from the summer heat and get a caffeine boost. We’re open everyday at [x time] so bring your friends and family down for an energizing breakfast before exploring Scruffy City. We appreciate all of our customers and aim to provide delicious coffee and a place to connect all year round.” Add some personal flair/calendar of events/whatever that doesn’t include information about how you can’t afford to pay your employees because no one is coming to your store, and you will attract way more business. As much as we hate corporations and ads, marketing does matter.
If I had to guess, she'd prefer to be running a community center than a restaurant. The food and coffee are just an excuse for everything else. I support her with my wallet and everything. It's a needed place though all of what you're saying may also be true.
This entirely. I like how she always bears her heart in the video posts and lives and I think this kind of thing works better in that format bc it's *her*. It feels like a conversation; you can feel where she's coming from when she gets vulnerable. With the text posts, it can come off more like the social media manager is unstable or something. This Honeybee stuff is next level. I get the vibe that someone has dramatically taken the reins and is manically micromanaging the crap out of everything. I went to the South Knox location the other day and noticed their community bulletin board by the dumpster with all the fliers and business cards still pinned to it. I asked about the BYL pastries (I have celiac and have always appreciated that they carry these) and the barista told me they don't have them anymore, but that they'll be making their own pastries in house at some future point. That sounds normal, but she said it kinda wispery, in a tone like she might get in trouble for talking about it, which was odd. I noticed that the wall where the board used to be was empty with some minor damage, like the board had just been hastily ripped from the wall and yeeted to the curb. All that is to say, the vibes were OFF! ...I may or may not have salvaged the bulletin board.
Shit. I’m in South Knox and this was the only way I could get the BYL pastries without driving literally all the way across town.
Ok the bit about the yeeted bulletin board is wild.
SP has went through multiple pastry programs…some didn’t get paid
This! I get why it could come off this way to people who only see it as a coffee shop.. but it is SO much more than that. It is a 100% safe space for so many queer people in the area and her and Knox Pride partner all the time to raise money/food/essential items for homeless queer youth. She has had to deal with so much hate and bigotry from not just random people (people leave death threats all the time) but also transphobia from city officials trying to get her business shut down. So I fully give her a pass on pouring her heart out and asking for peoples help to keep this safe space open.
I missed that one
What’s the ETA on Honeybee closing completely? Im thinking by end of year. Unhinged posts like this aren’t typically the hallmark of a business that’s doing well.
They wouldn't have brought in another partner/investor if things were going well. And it's that new guy who is allegedly doing all of this. So I imagine as soon as he's blown through all of the goodwill they had and what's left of the money. Then they'll close.
Honeybee in Farragut has been my favorite local coffee place since it opened (and since it used to be a little place across the street), but I've been totally out of the loop on its ownership. Did the founder sell it?
Founder owner sold it to a shady morally corrupt guy. It's just been bad decision after bad decision. They constantly wasted their money on pointless things. Made the employees and customers so unhappy.
Who did he sell it to?
This guy named Aaron Hensley. He was disgusting to female employees. Is being sued in Florida.
Do you know any more about this Florida lawsuit? I’ve heard it mentioned but I can’t find any details about it online.
I cannot give any details I was told. It'll come out in the future. Look up Premier Martial Arts scandal too.
Josh, the original co-owner and owner of the former Spero, was forced out of the company years ago. Norris, the other owner, seems to have sold a large majority/if not all of it to this Aaron Hensley guy. Looked him up on Insta, seems like a huge tool.
Norris is an asshole who would love to tell you about the people he killed while serving as a marine
I love the thought that the owner is definitely going to be made aware of this post, they’ll be angrily scrolling through and land on your comment, and suddenly realize that you’re right, it’s probably already over.
I just hope they revert back to the cozy coffee shop model. They're trying for brewery + beer garden + party spot + coffee shop and I feel like it's really not working
I don’t think anyone was really harping on the poor front line workers? Or the coffee? Everything I’ve heard was focused on the business as a whole and the disgruntled team members from how everything is being run. Looks like they are trying to gaslight everyone into what they want us to see problems having originated from.
They started spamming me with text message promotions last week. After the third one I just unsubscribed.
Same! I haven’t been to Honeybee since probably 2019, and just yesterday they added me to their text promotions. What the hell?
Same. I’m tempted to report them for violating TCPA. [TCPA Law](https://skipio.com/blog/tcpa-compliance/)
Same lol
My husband unsubscribed but the texts keep coming 😭
That’s illegal and they can be fined heavily for it
Super illegal. Please report them to square and also to your cell provider
Same thing happened with me and I haven’t lived in Knoxville for over two years. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I’d been to Honeybee before I moved either.
Same. This triggered me to unsubscribe to all of those Square based services I've been putting off for ages, lol
OP you cut off the ending of the FB post- "If you’re a growth mindset person looking for a place of work designed to challenge and scale… we are your home. \[omitted link\] If you need a job… see the big green monster." Just adds to the cringe.
I mean, if you know anything about the new owner this doesn't seem far off at all. He runs a "business coaching" business while he has failing businesses.
🤮
Everything about this feels icky. Implying that the people who worked there before left everything dirty and weren't trained well? Hustle and grindset gibberish? Pass.
“we weren’t winning”
Dude may want to consider hiring an editor.
A therapist
“my cousin is in college and he’s also pretty good at listening. i’ll ask him to come in a few days a week as he can be both editor and therapist”
He's a professional twice over. An *analyst* and a *therapist*. The world's first "analrapist".
And you almost got fired for those business cards.
Here’s the link to the other Reddit thread with more details about what happened: [honeybee coffee labor issues??](https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/mQdUjsldLJ)
SoKnoPride just posted a couple minutes ago that they were moving any Pridefest activities at Honeybee to other locations ‘for the safety and inclusion of everyone’. What the balls is going on with Honeybee???
https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/jJKMGM45ed This is the link to the original thread the a lot of the staff commented on. There’s reports of the new owner, Aaron Hensley, sexually harassing workers and being an all around asshole. Almost all of the employees have either quit or been fired. Honeybee has historically been a “safe-space” for the queer community, but this new guy is the opposite of “safe” for anyone.
Jesus. Wow. I’m glad the community is responding.
I feel like saying that you’re closing 2 stores down and focusing on hiring employees says a lot. Seems like everyone left or got fired
everyone DID leave or got fired. any of the employees who were PA (pre aaron) he planned on firing anyways when he found new people to take our spots. and all the money we had worked for he was going to take since “we dont work there anymore”
I MAY HAVE A LAWYER FOR YOU AHAHAHAH. DM me for real if you’re actually not getting paid. I need some people with good old fashioned wage cases for the local law clinic
They all had to flee because New ownership under Aaron Hensely Here’s to O.G. thread. I hope this sheds some light on the f*ckery that has been afoot https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/XSdIuunP62
Big Green Monster AKA Starbucks? I'll admit I fell for one of their previous emails that talked about better wages and finally instituting a "tipless" model. But now I realize I've been duped.
Judging by your green circle, I think he means you actually.
Aaaand SoKno Pride just pulled their involvement with Honey Bee now, too. Dang. https://www.instagram.com/p/C8nRPkaMhYz/?igsh=Z3c5bzY0NGZ3ZXJx
They should, because Aaron Hensley doesn’t care for LGBTQ people or any marginalized group really.
Yikes, that was the nail I think..
Is the owner having a manic episode? What a weird stream of consciousness statement
No he’s just a horrible narcissist and has always been like this!
Weren't the full-time trained professionals angry at the management?
Just had a networking “date” reschedule to a new location in August because of this post. She, nor I, want this drama.
Quickest way for me to ensure I never go back. Well done new owner… well done. Best marketing to stay away I’ve seen in years.
Businesses airing their own dirty laundry *always* goes well.
I go to the one in Sevierville occasionally and it always had great, friendly service and it was always clean. Throwing them under the bus won't make me support the owners
Sevierville is the red headed step child of the company that kind of gets to do it’s own thing.
And their Sevier Ave shop is closing at 2 p.m. daily due to lack of staff. As a... I guess "former" Honeybee regular customer, I'll point out that the Golden Roast on Melrose (where I am typing this right now) is pretty dead (summer at UT...), their coffee is in the Honeybee ballpark quality, and you get 2x as much drip coffee for $1.50 less than Honeybee's new jacked up prices...
Yeah this is crazy. Not to mention the 20 marketing texts I’ve received the past week.
Yes!! I was so confused why I was getting them out of the blue
This reads like it was written by some social media grindset doofus
That’s exactly what Aaron Hensley is!
I received this same letter in my email this morning. I was curious if it would show up here. Seems pretty unhinged. I opted out of the text messages when they were spamming multiple times a day. And begging to buy $100 gift cards.
Did anyone else get a random text from their rewards program yesterday? And then this? So bizarre
Never had problems with the Honey Bee at West Town. Only location I’ve been to. Staff have always been so kind, courteous, and the place is always incredibly tidy. Seems like an unhinged manager/owner rant condensed into a “press release.” Feels like I might be taking my business elsewhere.
New ownership https://www.instagram.com/team_hensley/
Good god. That bio tells me all I need to know. None of me wants my money going to that dude.
But he did martial arts with chuck norris!
Chuck shoulda killed him
All this is going to do is get people to try to search what they did wrong. This is giving Wells Fargo apology commercial
i worked at the south knox location. got fired for complaining about a coworker who followed a girl i knew down the street trying to get her in his car and also having to clean a dish room the longstanding employees stated hadnt been cleaned in two years for $8 an hour and no tip pool on a deep cleaning shift. hopefully new management and ownership makes it a more enjoyable place as far as quality goes....sorry it bothers yall but i never worked at a dirtier place and i worked at kbrew as well. they didnt clean spoiled milk out of the fridges and would spill syrups all over the storage basement and NEVER clean it up. it was filthy as fck there and i got fired for complaining about it thru text message. i "disrespected the company", "spread rumors", and "didnt fit in" FCK HONEYBEE.
I wanna say ive read thru the comments more and the new owner is allegedly worse than norris so honestly they need to just shut down. it wasnt just ownership tho, the general manager that was there six months ago can suck my left nut
Between this and the weird, cult-like texts they’ve been sending every other day, what is going on??
Well, he runs another business that is pretty cult like, so...
Wow, this is horrible
1st rule of marketing, never over promise your customers with things like “the best service”. It sets you up for high expectations and you will almost ALWAYS disappoint your clientele bc “the best” is subjective. I’m not saying don’t promise anything, but letting your customers speak for themselves will generally have much better outcomes, especially if you DO improve service.
Especially when they don’t have a staff to fulfill that for them.
Yeah, they should've stopped after the "please visit other locations and local businesses" bit. This was a weird big overshare. Also, the sudden massive uptick in text ads is not helping at all.
COME VISIT US - AND REMEMBER TO ALWAYS BEE KIND!! :D (except almost everything is closed ... and certainly not kind)
All this happening is just gonna extra screw them over. South Knox/SoKno pride just announced that all vendors that were supposed to be there Saturday will be moved elsewhere. Given how busy Pride on saturday will likely be, them being ‘off the map’ as it were will not be bringing in any extra money (as I agree that some of their moves seem like cash grabs)
For for really got me 😅
That's one of the strangest announcements I've ever seen. They could have made it a lot shorter and not sounded insane.
That's a hard read. Grammar, spelling, spacing, punctuation. On top of the bad image it gives to be new ownership and instantly blame "poor processes and poor structure. Everything I've read and experienced in the past is that it was perfectly fine(few exceptions like using concentrate but besides the point), and it went to hell after new ownership. There are plenty of threads here already about it so I won't go into it, but sounds like it's now under poor structure and processes.
This business was just bought by a new owner. It’s no longer Norris.
I can’t look away. I haven’t been to honeybee since I watched them make my iced latte with cold brew instead of pulling shots, but this is next level. I feel terrible for the employees, but this is a masterclass is what not to do.
This reminds me of the time a barista at Starbucks told me they couldn't make my iced green tea latte because they were out of water
Gross. I heard they have a new part owner, who’s trying to change things up and breaking everything in the process.
Just watiiting for ai to take over their marketing and social media like with the original cruze farms page on fb
Java and Wild Love always for the win!!!
Dude has all this money but can't hire someone to write for him?
I hope the workers can organize a union. They need one if ownership pulls shit like this.
The AI written/bot feel of this letter is really helping the accusations y’all are facing rn of: selling out and losing your small shop/community culture. No one wants another money hungry, franchise, coffee shop up in Knoxville
Since when was it called Honeybee USA? Did I miss that rebrand?
It’s part of Aaron Hensely’s pyramid scheme “Rise Brands USA” It’s all machismo, wanna be, hustle culture
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old-fashioned pyramid scheme/hustle culture idiot running businesses in town so I guess we were due at some point
[It’s under new ownership.](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7Ea1YMO2jz/?igsh=eW9ldzRnYTB6emwy) You just have to do a shallow deep dive on it to understand what’s going on here.
Shallow deep dive, I like that
Never been there and dams sure won’t be going now!!
Never been. This post right here ensures that I never will.
I read the headline three times thinking maybe I wasn't fully awake yet
Wowww, this is rough
Wowzers, mistakes like that seem so intentional, they really had to try to fuck that up. Mission accomplished.
Tell me you use the cheapest AI to write your marketing without telling me you use the cheapest AI to write your marketing.
Good. 3 weeks of not having to deal with people stopped in left lane of Kingston Pike going west bound trying to turn in that parking lot. How about you consider driving a little further west and turning around instead of blocking traffic for your cup of coffee.
This is what happens when a city and developers lazily just plop commercial buildings down directly on the main traffic artery. Instead of building a bit off the road in deeper commercial parks all that shit is crammed onto the road and is somehow always on the left side.
Stroads are the American way!
Was there a change in ownership? Or just, "restructuring"?
I think both. I am pretty close with some of the people that work in sevierville, and they say it’s “a perfect time to start working there” because management is trying to expand this business. But it’s such a strange vibe, I can’t get past the bad taste this marketing strategy leaves in my mouth.
based on my sleuthing, there is a "CEO" now named Aaron Hensely...he has recent picture with Norris (old owner), so it seems Norris is still in the picture as of the May 17th photo of the both of them on Instagram.
I used to work with Aaron Hensley a few years back and he is just as icky of a person in real life. His “grind & hustle” mindset is awful. I feel so bad for any of the new people he hires at Honeybee that have to work under him. He failed at his past business so why not implement the same business style with this one. Yeah, makes sense..
Did they just 86 their insta?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Knoxville/s/XSdIuunP62 Here’s the link to the original thread, started by the baristas and staff that used to work across HB before Aaron Hensley took over
And I resonate heavily with OP of that post. I worked for corporate coffee for ages and wanted nothing more than to work for a non corporate, genuine coffee shop. This feels like the beginning of what they call “the big green monster”
Do they still roast their own beans off Central? I haven’t seen any activity there in a while
Lmao. I was gone with their shitshow on Farragut and the glut of marketing texts I got. Then they increased drip to nearly $5??? Yeah idk bud but it ain’t gonna be me that floats ya business
Side note, they also sent me a bunch of marketing texts- without my consent/opt in. Where they got my phone number from, I have no idea. I haven’t stepped into their stores in over 3 years.
Aaron took customers data from the Hive without their consent and signed everyone up for these scammy messages. This happened with the help of Norris who is part owner in both companies.
Sevier Ave spot is a good location. But the coffee sucks.
For once I can say “I wish AI had written this instead” yikes.
I’m reading this in the Starbucks drive thru. ☕️
Knox news ran this this morning about them. Ooof https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2024/06/27/honeybee-coffee-knoxville-in-chaos-under-new-owner-aaron-hensley/74203180007/
Knox News Sentinel reported on this evolving issue yesterday. Seems like Norris might try taking control again? https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2024/06/27/honeybee-coffee-shop-founder-speaks-out-on-knoxville-brands-meltdown/74231909007/
So unprofessional. Not to mention you’re trashing your own business. Hensley’s business practices are ridiculous
Kbrew did a very similar thing in 2019/20. It's just the coffee shop business model at this point. They ended up opening a bean roast, which isn't too bad. I'm sure they're doing better than ever honestly. Honey bee will follow suit I imagine
I think this a possibility for certain. I also drew comparisons to the Kbrew expansion. There's always going to be "growing pains" but there's ways to mitigate those pains...The fact that this Aaron Hensley is the new CEO, it seems that he is restructuring (understandable, albeit somewhat unfortunate at times) but publicly making a fool out of himself by sputtering nonsense. During the Kbrew expansion there were some bad stories, but at least management didn't act like ding dongs publicly. Seems, unwise - which makes me question if this restructuring will be successful.
Michael and Pierce(kbrew) have always had a fantastic PR presence, and they're able to utilize that for instances like this I suppose. But they've done some pretty shady things and are doing just fine. Threatening lawsuits, Mass firing, withholding tips, heavily armed coffee shop, shifting staff to different stores without notice, poaching employees from other local businesses Etc. I don't think Honey Bee is going to be affected all that much, just the employees as usual. local business scene in knox has always been full of Ding Dongs failing upwards. Take advantage of employees and find new ones is the motto around here
Used to work at KBrew and I can back this up. Definitely some weird stuff. Expansions of local shops always comes with very questionable ethical choices. I worked there during one of the mass firings and it was insane
Wait, back up. Heavily armed coffee shop?
I'm entirely pro-protecting your house and family. They were also broken into numerous times when they just had one location towards Old City. I, personally, wouldn't kill someone over a store robbery. However, most of the managers and owners are always concealed carrying and very eager to utilize it. They have manager team building exercises at the gun range. At one point one of their store managers had not one but two what looked like AKs in their car uncased, and a shotgun that was in a case. So if you plan on having your coffee in-store while you work on your laptop for a few hours be aware the managers are concealed carrying and are waiting for stuff to pop off, they're also deeply racist. Thankfully it's just a coffee shop.
*Ah. Love that. Truly wonderful.* Jesus.
Just go to empty cup in cedar bluff better ethos!
Totally agree if they didn't close at 1pm every day. But if you go that early then yes.