Walk into a grocery store, doctor’s office waiting room or bagel shop in Bangor and you’re likely to spot a stack of Coffee News papers with fun facts, trivia questions, local ads and smiling, round-faced illustrations.
The free, single-sheet publication is part of an international franchise system, and its ownership transferred from one Bangor family to another this fall when Ben and Malorie Sprague purchased the company from Bill and Sue-Ann Buckley.
The new owners see Coffee News as a Bangor success story as the franchise system has been based in the city for years, maintaining the same model and similar content throughout rapid shifts in the media industry.
“In this day and age when people are so overwhelmed by online stimulation and AI slop and just bombarded with constant interruptions, the printed, tangible page still has a really key importance to us,” Ben Sprague, who has worked in banking in the city for years and is also a member of the School Committee, told the Bangor Daily News.
The weekly publication was founded in Canada nearly 40 years ago, and there are now more than 300 Coffee News franchises in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The type of content in its pages has remained mostly consistent over time: feel-good stories, jokes, trivia, horoscopes and local events.
“It’s all written by actual human beings,” Sprague said, noting that all of the content is penned by writers in Maine and Canada and provided to the franchises through the headquarters in Bangor, although each franchise has its own section with events in its area.
Bill Buckley, also a Bangor resident, brought Coffee News to the U.S. in the 1990s and later acquired the entire franchise system. The Spragues bought the Bangor-area franchises two years ago and still plan to operate those editions while they oversee the international network.
Sprague grew up reading Coffee News in the Bangor area with his parents and grandparents and was excited to go all in on the publication, in part, because he believes strongly in print media. He noted a family history that includes one grandfather who worked as a linotype operator at the BDN and another who sold magazine subscriptions.
“Coffee News is a really special thing because it has been so consistent over time,” Sprague said. “We feel like we’re an emotional tether for people, that they can see Coffee News and get a very predictable experience out of it, and hopefully a heartwarming one that makes them feel good.”
He pointed out how Coffee News is “almost part of the visual infrastructure of the community,” adding that it feels familiar because it pops up in so many locations.
“I love to go to Bagel Central and see parents and their kids, or grandparents and their kids, doing the jokes and the trivia together, and I think Coffee News brings people together,” Sprague said.
He and Malorie Sprague, his wife and co-owner, plan to modernize Coffee News and make it more relevant to a younger audience, while still “keeping everything exactly the same as it’s always been.”
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated who Ben and Malorie Sprague purchased Coffee News from. They purchased it from both Bill and Sue-Ann Buckley.