Insomnia Coffee Company is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

independent coffee

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

, with headquarters in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The first store location opened in the back of a Galway bookstore in August 1997. The company has over 150 stores and over 400 self-service units in operation around Ireland. Insomnia stores serve both hot and cold drinks,

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

es,

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

s, and

pastries Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ...

History

Insomnia has grown from a single location in a

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

bookstore in 1997 to an estate of 150+ coffee shops with owned stores and franchised stores, through partnerships with SPAR/Eurospar, Mace and Londis as well as other Irish retailers such as

Eason & Son Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines and new ...

, Fresh, Meadows & Byrne,

Maxol Maxol is an Irish oil company, part of McMullan Bros. Limited. It was founded in 1920. Organisation Republic of Ireland *Maxol Lubricants Ltd. (Lubricant supplier to the automotive, industrial, marine, and agricultural markets) *Maxol Direct Ltd ...

and

Penneys Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not u ...

. In 2003, the company merged with the sandwich company Bendini & Shaw. In 2005, Insomnia acquired the Perk coffee chain. From 2006-2017, the company was equally owned by chairman Bobby Kerr,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Harry O’Kelly, and John Clohisey. In 2010, O'Kelly was appointed CEO and Kerr became chairman. In December 2017, Kerr left the business and sold his shares to the other shareholders. That same month, Clohisey became chairman, CFO Barry Kehoe joined the Board of Directors, and Dara O'Flynn joined as COO. In April 2012, the Insomnia high street franchise was launched. The first franchise store opened in 2013 in St Stephens Green Shopping Centre, Dublin. In 2015, the company announced a new partnership with

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not u ...

, an Irish-based retail chain, which trades in Ireland as

. In 2015, three

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

concession stores were rolled out at Penneys in Waterford, Swords and Athlone, with Liffey Valley opening in 2016. In 2015, Insomnia expanded to the United Kingdom, with a store opening in Market Harborough. It continued to expand in 2016, opening three more UK stores in Calver, Laceby and Bromley, which was the first of seven stores in partnership with Primark. As of September 2022, Insomnia has over 100 stores in the UK, having most recently opened a store in Eastham, Wirral in 2022, in partnership with the Central England Co-operative. In 2016, a new franchise partnership developed between Insomnia and Maxol, which saw the first store opening in Mulhuddart Service Station in April 2016. In 2018, Insomnia's first coffee drive-thru opened in partnership with Maxol at Maxol Ballycoolin in the heart of the Dublin Enterprise Zone.

Products

Insomnia offers a range of beverages, including tea, coffee and hot chocolate. It also offers food options, including sandwiches, filled baguettes, panini, focaccia, flatbreads, wraps, ciabattas, salads and soups.

History

Products

See also

References

Further reading