A national coffee chain has plans to build and open its first Wilmington location by the end of the year.

Delight Restaurant Group recently submitted plans for a 7 Brew Coffee location at 805 S. College Road in Wilmington. While a 7 Brew location opened last fall in Shallotte, the coffee stand would be the chain’s first in Wilmington.

The 7 Brew brand was founded in 2017 and began franchising in 2021, according to its website. The company, which serves coffee, tea, energy drinks, smoothies, and more through a drive-thru-only model, has more than 500 stands across 38 U.S. states.

The location is set to be the first of around 12 locations that franchisee Delight Restaurant Group plans to bring to the Wilmington market over the next five years, said Pak Luu, the 7 Brew brand president at Delight Restaurant Group.

The franchise group owns the rights to open around 100 7 Brew locations in the Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington markets, as well as the Hampton Roads, Virginia, market, Luu added. The Wilmington location is set to be one of 12 locations open by the end of the year, according to Luu. 

“We’re growing super, super rapidly,” he said. “Even though we only have two stores open (right now), we have a bunch of other sites either under construction or going through the permitting process.”

Plans for the Wilmington store include a just-over-500-square-foot coffee stand with a dual-lane drive-thru. While the location will have a window for walk-up service, Luu said, walk-ups typically account for around 5% of their business.

The Wilmington store is slated for the roughly 0.5-acre site that formerly housed a Burger King, which was demolished in 2024. The site is in the parking lot of a former Kmart, a building that’s been vacant since the store closed in 2017. 

Luu said his company typically looks for sites with good visibility and high levels of traffic. They also look for nearby retail stores and commercial centers to help generate business.

He sees the Wilmington site’s proximity to the University of North Carolina Wilmington as a plus for the first location. 

“We're a super young and energetic brand, so the other thing we look at is demographics,” he said. “Given that it's so close to the college, both our baristas, as well as our customers, will basically be like the same type of people.”

“It’s just a super accessible corner that’s close to campus,” he added. “You bring all those things together, and this site should be super, super strong.”

Luu said his company will lease the site. They plan to break ground on the coffee stand this summer and open later this year.