MIAMI — There was a buzz in the air at a Starbucks near the downtown Miami Brightline station — and it wasn’t only because of the caffeine.

A “Holiday Sip and Shine,” featuring kids’ games, a DJ and drink specials, took over the cafe.

Concessions International, a Black-owned business, operates this Starbucks, and wanted local people to connect with the coffeehouse team in an informal way.

Residents of Overtown, the historically Black community just blocks away, got to see a business that represents them.

“Since the event happened, I’ve gotten an influx of people saying, ‘Wow, I didn’t know this was Black-owned,’ ” event planner Kylie Russell said.

As one of the largest coffee brands in the world, Starbucks might not be associated with Black family business. But Concessions International is changing that perception in South Florida.

The company has owned the franchise and operated the Starbucks near MiamiCentral, the downtown transportation hub, and also one at Jackson Memorial Hospital, since December 2024.

The Starbucks company runs the vast majority of its locations, but contracts with companies to run stores at transit stations, airports, universities and department stores including Target. Starbucks officials didn’t return several requests for comment and information on the family’s franchise.

For the Russell family, the Starbucks locations are just the latest of dozens of other restaurants and food businesses that they run. New generations have followed the lead of company co-founder Herman Russell.

Before his 2015 death, Russell launched family-owned businesses across construction, real estate and other industries. Concessions International, started in 1979, is one of those businesses. The company now operates 40 hospitality businesses around the country and in eight airports, including Miami International.

Growing up as one of Herman Russell’s grandchildren, Mori Russell Atkins didn’t always know that she would enter the family business. She knew that her relatives worked in construction and real estate, but she was focused more on becoming an entrepreneur by taking her own path.

“Once I entered college and started to really explore my career, that’s when I began to learn more,” said Atkins, 34. “The more we’re educated and know, I think the more it encourages generation after generation to be involved.”

Atkins works as Concessions International’s director of business development. Chicago native Kylie Russell, 35, is the founder and CEO of Priceless One Management and married into the Russell family. Her husband, Anderson Russell, is Mori’s cousin. Kylie has combined her workflow and skills with that of her Russell relatives.

After graduating from Atlanta’s Spelman College in 2012, Kylie Russell thought about starting her own business and launched Priceless One in 2015. Her mother had an event planning business, and seeing the Russell family work together motivated her even more.

“It’s really cool to see that I could bring my own lane and merge it with the family business and really be able to make an impact out of that,” she said.

Erica Crockton began working with the family business in 2007 and is the operations manager at the Starbucks MiamiCentral, 350 NW First Ave. She has worked different hospitality jobs including as a cook and a dietary aide, and has been in South Florida for six years.

Working for a Black-owned company has been inspiring, Crockton said.

“When I moved from North Carolina to Atlanta, I was actually in awe to see such a huge company being run by a minority family,” Crockton, 55, said of the Russell family. “It really blew my mind to be able to work for a Black-owned company of this magnitude.”

Crockton said the focus of the Starbucks operation is on customer service and quality products.

Looking ahead, Atkins said Concessions International’s focus is on maintaining its business profile and growing at Miami International Airport, where it already partners with Half Moon Empanadas. If the right opportunities for more partnerships with Starbucks or other Miami concepts come along, the company will consider them, she said.

Atkins says community connection, like the holiday party, matters as much to Concessions International as sales figures.

“We were never raised to chase a dollar,” Atkins said. What’s our impact? How are we impacting people? When you have different moral standards, you’re more connected to what your legacy stands for.”

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