When high-end Jura automatic coffee machines need service in the U.S., they’re brought to Lancaster County, home to the company’s only certified service center in the country.
By early next month, that work will shift to a new $42 million, 94,000-square-foot facility in Rapho Township that the company expects will accommodate its next 20 years of growth.
Jura unveiled its new hospitality and service center at 1475 E. Main St. this week. Modeled after the company’s home base in Niederbuchsiten, Switzerland, it is nearly three times the size of its current space in the Rapho Business Park.
Jura’s bean-to-cup coffee machines, which are manufactured in Europe, range in cost from $1,199 to $9,999 new. The high-tech machines designed for homes and offices automatically make coffee, espresso, cold brew and cappuccinos and have integrated cleaning programs.
The U.S. makes up about 15% of Jura’s global sales and recently eclipsed its largest market in Germany in monthly sales for the first time in the company’s 95-year history.
Jura CEO Emanuel Probst said Monday during an event at the new facility that trade partners in Germany call the Jura the “Mercedes-Benz of coffee machines.”
“If this is what you stand for, then you have to deliver – not only with the machine but also with the service,” he said.
The hospitality and service center’s day-to-day operations will be managed by Bates Enterprises, which operates the current location and has been based in Rapho Township since the 1980s.
Bates’ 28 employees will move to the new facility, which is designed to be able to accommodate at least twice that many as Jura expects to grow over the next two decades.
The Rapho Township location services about 24,000 machines per year, according to owner Jeff Bates, each taking about 24 hours. The vast majority are shipped, but customers can also drop them off in person.
“This building reflects the same philosophy that guides one of Jura's principles: repairing rather than replacing whenever possible,” Bates said.
Jura machines typically have a nine-year lifespan, Tom McMahon, president of Jura’s U.S. operations, said.
The new facility will add a drive-thru drop-off option for customers, as well as expanded areas for repair and cleaning machines, a larger showroom, training space for employees and distributors. The building is equipped with rooftop solar and geothermal heating and cooling.
Construction began in January 2024. When the project first became public in 2022, it was expected to cost around $17 million. A decision to increase the size of the proposed building to accommodate future growth increased the cost, McMahon said.
The relationship with Bates Enterprises and its employees was a key factor into Jura’s decision to expand here. The project was also awarded $16.25 million in state grants, which Probst said was a sign of confidence in the company’s plans for growth in the U.S.
“We are now set here, and we want to make it strong here,” Probst said.