Tampa Bay's
favorite
on-the-go stop.

more band photos from the Van Duck crew 🤩⁣
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sometimes ya just gotta enjoy the cold weather and embrace the extra fashion it lets you implement. LIKE THESE COOL DUCKS. ⁣
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we’re about to exit that long period of time known simply as “the holidays” - Monday is when 2025 REALLY kicks into gear. how you feeling?⁣
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let’s get this year, folks. you’ve got this. it’s gonna be a good one. ...

some of the art submissions we’ve had that didn’t make it to a sticker (at least yet)…⁣
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our monthly sticker program is one of our fave things we do - folks are always sending in art around the duck, and it’s an honor and just flippin’ cool. ⁣
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we don’t make EVERY piece of art into a sticker (honestly there’s just too much - which is amazing and we love it!). but we keep all of it. some make it to our office walls or inside the stands, some of it gets messaged around to the team, some placed in random spots all over White Duck. ⁣
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here’s many that have yet to become stickers! cheers to all the artists who spend their time and talent thinking of us. we’re so grateful! ...

HAPPY 2025 FRIENDS, here are a few good things!!! (January stickers, chocolate croissants, it’s 2025)⁣
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CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS ARE BACK⁣
elegant served warm, lovely at room temp, yall have been asking, and here they are. Filled with chocolate and drizzled on top, too. It’s got Kayla (uh, and all of us) grinning! ⁣
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January stickers are in!!! A lil quackly buddy squished into a cup, hand drawn by our friend @belle_moonbeam. The duck looks a little sheepish to have become stuck, but nonetheless - duck-in-a-cup! Grab yours for $3.5, or two for $6. ⁣
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AND IT’S 2025!!! This year will be wonderful. Much work to do in every aspect of life, but we’re feeling encouraged and ready. Wishing so many good things for each of YOU this year. Let’s do this! ...

Ah, our final year-review post before we hit 2025. Today, let’s look back on THIS year:⁣
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*2024*⁣
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Almost every month of this year (since April), we thought Little and Ridge was opening. Our third location. But nope. Good news is: looking like mid-January (finally). Fingers crossed that’s the last of the big permitting/architecture/county/contractors lessons. New locations will be so much quicker!⁣
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While we battled that battle, we also had a beautiful and wild year. It was Van Duck (Whittney’s stand!)’s first FULL year, and wow what a great one it was. Thank you, Lutz! (And thanks NPR/Holiday as always!) That crew has 100% become ducks now, and it’s pure joy. WE HAVE THE BEST TEAM. ⁣
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We took the managers to Atlanta to expand their leadership and growth horizons. Our team really is the best part of this place, and seeing our crew get more knowledge and expertise is inspiring. Big things coming. ⁣
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The team got ever more creative and fun with our photos. State troopers sent us photos of our cups on their cars. Zayne was in at least a dozen gallery-worthy pics (scrolling through 2024 photos was a treat, ha). Halloween was a whole week of costumed fun. ⁣
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They painted Gabby’s stand backwards colors, and had to re-do it. 🙃⁣
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Two hurricanes hit all of us, back to back. Four of our team members lost their homes, and we leaned in to help rebuild. Many of you were hit hard, too. Our hearts were - and are - with you. We found our new cat, Ducky, abandoned under a bush after those hurricanes. Now he’s loving life with his two big-sis pups.
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Tierra had her wonderful baby Noa, and decided to step away from her role here to spend time with her lil. We will miss her and are so happy for them at the same time. ⁣
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We partnered with @lacolombecoffee and started doing more service and maintenance. Kota will now be ready to move full time into that next year. ⁣
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We published a card deck using years of monthly sticker art, had our first painted art windows, got festive and had our biggest annual Christmas party yet (hours of karaoke!). With tomorrow being the final day of 2024, we are feeling encouraged and loved and ready to rock 2025. ⁣
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Thank you all… buckle up! ...

Let’s keep on looking back at our history, as we get ready to open our third stand and grow into 2025! We’ve already looked back at 2020, 2021, and 2022, so it’s time for… ⁣
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*2023*⁣
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We spent the first half of the year working like mad to get Van Duck open (that’s what we call the Van Dyke and Dale Mabry stand, heh), and finally opened in June. ⁣
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This meant the team grew from a little over a dozen to over 30, which we think will be our scariest growth moment ever. The OG stand is a miraculous gem, and as much as y’all seem to enjoy what we’re up to (thanks!), there’s always that fear of “what if it was just right place right time and we can’t repeat this?”⁣
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But we could. Y’all Lutz-ians showed us love too, and oh so soon Van Duck felt like a White Duck. Uniquely its own, and yet fully US. Thanks for letting that happen, Lutz. Can’t wait to do it again at Little and Ridge (happening mid January!). Site work started there too in 2023, btw. ⁣
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Getting that team trained without a location to train in was fun - we borrowed friends’ offices and warehouses and met up to train, grabbing meals afterwards across Tampa Bay. ⁣
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We worked on perfecting the “White Duck Way” - our internal guides on how we do any and everything. More structure on how we operate, for better consistency across stands and teams. ⁣
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Kota continued to gain more experience in our tech and service areas, taking stuff apart and putting it back together. ⁣
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One of our founders, Robyn, graduated from the New Port Richey Citizen’s Academy to get to know our town better. We’ve been in Tampa Bay for nearly 20 years, but only a few years in NPR (Lutz / Carrollwood before). We love getting to know our community and make it a point to be out in it. ⁣
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The back of the Pond, our offices and warehouse, caught on fire in 2023! Luckily for us it didn’t get in our part of the building and no one was hurt, but it was still scary.⁣
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We picked up the Duck Van to start moving stuff around more as we had multiple locations now. Taylor Swift came through town, and you know we had to go see her at Raymond James. ⁣
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The Christmas party was the first with two teams (so many people!) and we prepared for 2024…⁣ ...

2024 is coming to an end, so we’re taking each day to look back at one of our years open. Today:⁣
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*2022*⁣
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So many lessons and good times!!! We started off 2022 with Kota coming back from his first tech classes (in Charlotte), as our tech and maintenance business began to brew. ⁣
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Riley joined us as well this year (now apprenticing for the tech side as well), and both Gabby and Whittney stood on the fresh land which would become their stands. ⁣
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We battled with counties, contractors, and architects while learning the built structure world. That process would take us nearly three years to finish (Little and Ridge is STILL not open - but it’s opening VERY soon finally!)⁣
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⁣Learning to build was a struggle, while at the same time seeing the OG stand grow as we continued to perfect our model. Having an amazing team (who continues to grow more experienced and sure) helped us spread our focus as we needed. We are, always, a work in progress. ⁣🥰
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2022 is also the year we got that billboard, and had a ton of fun with both our own designs and gathering… inspiration… from whatever else was running on it. Other coffee brands love that billboard even today. ;)⁣
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The main duck house added a puppy, and then another. Ducklings grew older. We all got together often and laughed a lot, and we grew more comfortable with how White Duck Espresso operates - setting records and starting to feel really smooth. We became more efficient. ⁣
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We knew 2023 was going to be good… ...

As we close out the year, we’re spending each day looking back at one of the years we’ve been open! Today:⁣
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*2021*⁣
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Tom Brady came to the Bucs and we won a Super Bowl. Grady on OUR team was excited. :)⁣
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We started our tradition of commissioning custom Funkos when a barista hits a year with us. First up were Gabby, Kali, Kota, and Whittney. We’ve ordered 30+ of these now!⁣
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Kate, Tierra, and Zayne all started in 2021. We created better roles for team members as we began to look to new locations and see people stay with us. We’ve always said we want anyone who stays here to be able to be genuinely successful if they’d like to be a duck for a long time.⁣
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Y’all showed us so much love, we started seriously working on growth. We created the design for our new stands, and signed both leases for stand 2 and 3 this year (like we said last post - we’ve learned some lessons on build timing and process over the years!) The next stands will have a further updated design. 😉 ⁣
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We also signed the lease for The Pond (where ducks hang out) - our office and warehouse. ⁣
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2021 was the year we brought @turningpointbeer their cups that were mis-delivered to us (and were greeted by their town mayor and such a crowd when we arrived!)⁣
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Gabby and Whittney had our first ducklings in 2021: Avah & Piper. We’ve had many ducklings born since and it is absolutely the biggest joy. 🥹 So much love!!!⁣
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Our founders, Kyle and Robyn, had a lot going on in 2021. Through their work at the nonprofit they helped found (@beatchildhoodcancer - where Kyle was working full time as Exec Director), they won the @tblightning’s Community Hero award. Both Kyle AND their son Charley had big surgeries in 2021.⁣
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In October, we took the OG crew to New Orleans for a coffee conference (in the height of COVID!), and got to spend some time with the Lotus team.⁣
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We also launched our filled croissants in 2021, and had our 2nd annual Christmas party! In general, we started getting together more with the whole team - dinners at our home, outings in the community… being a crew beyond the stands.⁣
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As the year closed, we were grateful for a brilliant year, and excited for 2022… ...

We’re coming into our fifth year operating, and we’d like to take the next few days to look back at each year. Today is day 1: 2020. AHHHH NOSTALGIA. ⁣
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*2020*⁣
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Our first year. What a wild one, too. ⁣
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We poured a lot of ourselves into even getting open. We’d come from the tech and nonprofit spaces, and learned a lot of lessons on building a physical structure (learned some more with stands 2 and 3, but that’s another post). It was stressful (and wonderfully creative) and a lot of sacrifice, and the week we opened was March 10, 2020 - the same week the county shut down for COVID. ⁣
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You made it immediately worth it. We opened with 4 employees (2 of which were Kali and Gabby, who are still here - running stands now), and we quickly had to add a bunch more team members (Kota and Whittney started a week later). ⁣
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Lines were long. We started taking orders outside. At first we were literally writing orders on post it notes, running inside, and slapping them on the espresso machine. We moved to a paper receipt printer and iPads almost immediately. Annnnnd pretty quick from there moved to a nice professional screen system which we still use today. ⁣
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We rented a storage unit next to us to fit all the cups and gear and supplies we needed, then a second unit when that one got filled. We made multiples trips a day there to restock.⁣
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We had to rethink everything about our process. We still do that today (our fifth core value is “We are a Work in Progress” - nothing is sacred except the Core Values. We moved from 3-4 minutes per car, to 2 minutes, to 90 seconds, to sub-1 minute per car. Another core value is “We are Fast.”⁣
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We didn’t take a day off for 8 months. We launched our first secret menu drink. It was exhilarating and exhausting and scary and rewarding and beautiful, and through the whole thing COVID was happening, so toss all that confusion in there. ⁣
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By our first Christmas, the Christmas of 2020, we knew we were building something special with our team and with you. Relationships were forming, and the heart and hope we had wanted to be through slinging drinks was happening. ⁣
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We geared up for 2021, which would be our first FULL year in business… ...

open until noon today -⁣
MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL!⁣
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We hope your day is full of joy and peace and smiles and people who care about you. ⁣
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We’ll be here until noon - so come get your Christmas caffeine! ⁣
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Thank you for such a beautiful year - looking forward to another next year. ⁣
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If you’re someone who doesn’t have someone close this year, or today is just like any other day, or maybe you’re missing someone this year… we send our love to you. Come say hi! ⁣
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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL! ...

LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS, here are SO MANY of our holiday specials:⁣
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For the NAUGHTY LIST (first photo, left to right): Sugar Plum Lotus, Christmas Cake Shake, Grinch Machiatto, Elf Shake, Grinch Lotus ⁣
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NICE LIST (second photo, left to right): Elsa Lotus, Christmas Lotus, Santa Lotus, Rudolph Mocha, Frozen Shake!!!⁣
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That should pretty much give you your entire order queue through Christmas. ⁣
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And by the way - we’re open Christmas Day! 7a - 12p. We do a short shift every year to get you and yours caffeinated, and love it every time. It’s nice to share the holiday with you for a moment! ...

Today is Tierra’s last day - she’s here until around noon. 🥹⁣
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T has been a duck since summer of 2021, and we’ve been a better place because of her. She is capable and kind, smart and strong. ⁣
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Tierra has renovated a home, competed across the country in sports, built herself into an amazing person (and helped build us into what we are today!), and now has a brand new beautiful baby girl named Noa. ⁣
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It’s always bittersweet to celebrate new chapters for our team. We are over the moon T will be able to spend time with Noa and watch HER grow into an amazing woman as well. Tierra, you will continue to be such a great mom. And we will miss your warmth and sure steadiness in the stand. ⁣
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It’s an honor to know Tierra. If you’ve come through over the years, you know this too. Thanks for spending some years with us - this place will always have a big smile and welcome for you!!! ...

T minus ten days until Christmas, pals! 🎄⁣
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Let’s hold space for two cheery drinks: Elsa Lotus and Christmas Lotus. You can tell Kate’s all about them. ⁣
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The Elsa Lotus is a chilly floral vanilla, shimmering with icy goodness. Makes you want to build a snowman. ⛄️⁣
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The Christmas Lotus is a Cranberry Apple miracle of red and green, rumored to be Santa himself’s Christmas Eve fuel. ⁣
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Roll through while silver bells are ringing and tinsel and garlands are flowing. HAPPY SUNDAY, FLOCK. 🤶🧑‍🎄 ...