Dumb Starbucks, the parody coffee establishment that operated for approximately 72 hours in a Los Feliz strip mall in February 2014 before being closed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for operating without a permit, has announced a Chicago expansion, according to a press release issued Tuesday that was three pages long and used the word “synergy” only once, which the company described in a follow-up email as “restraint.” The new location, planned for Logan Square, will be the brand’s first outpost outside of the single location it briefly occupied at 1802 Hillhurst Avenue twelve years ago, a location that was technically an art gallery, legally a parody, and practically a line of confused people holding free Dumb Lattes while a camera crew filmed them.

Nathan Fielder, the Canadian business consultant and television personality who conceived Dumb Starbucks as part of a documented effort to help small businesses — or, depending on your read of the situation, as a legally protected parody art installation that attracted international media coverage and a health department citation simultaneously — confirmed the expansion in a statement notable for its careful avoidance of any claim that the business had, at any point, succeeded. “The Chicago market represents a significant opportunity,” the statement read. “We have identified strong consumer appetite for coffee-adjacent experiences that operate within the full protections afforded by United States parody law. We are excited to bring Dumb Starbucks to a city that we believe is ready for it.” He did not say what being ready for it entailed. The statement did not include projected revenue figures. When asked, a spokesperson said the financials were “robust” and then ended the call.

The original Dumb Starbucks opened February 7, 2014, featuring a menu of Dumb Espressos, Dumb Frappuccinos, and Dumb Caffè Lattes, all offered free of charge because, as an FAQ posted in the store window explained, accepting payment for goods would have changed the legal character of the enterprise from “parody art gallery” to “coffee shop,” the latter category requiring permits the store had declined to obtain on the grounds that obtaining them would have introduced a bureaucratic element incompatible with the installation’s conceptual framework. Customers could also purchase CDs of Dumb Nora Jones Duets, which were not free and which the store sold briskly in the three days before the health department arrived. Sizes were offered in Dumb Tall, Dumb Grande, and Dumb Venti, which a copyright attorney consulted during the planning process described, on camera, as “probably fine.”

The Chicago location, according to materials provided by the Dumb Starbucks expansion team, will replicate the original store’s format with several “market-specific adaptations.” Coffee will again be free, parody law will again be invoked, and the menu will again feature the word “Dumb” prepended to each item, a branding decision the company’s pitch deck describes as “immediately legible, legally defensible, and rich with comedic texture.” Chicago-specific additions will include a Dumb Chicago-Style Cold Brew, a Dumb Tavern-Style Flat White, and what the press release calls a “Dumb Seasonal Offering TBD” that the team says will be determined “in conversation with the community, the legal team, and, if necessary, the relevant municipal licensing authority.” A footnote clarifies that the Dumb Starbucks expansion team consists of four people, one of whom is described as a “parody strategist.”

The decision to expand to Logan Square was explained in the press release through a combination of demographic data and what the document calls “vibe alignment,” a metric the company defines as “the degree to which a neighborhood’s existing residents will recognize a legally protected parody coffee installation as consistent with the kind of thing that happens in their neighborhood.” Logan Square, the document notes, has a high concentration of independent coffee shops, a robust arts scene, and a median age of 32 — factors the analysis suggests correlate strongly with “willingness to wait in line for something that is technically not a coffee shop.” The release also cited Logan Square’s proximity to the 606 Trail, the Blue Line, and “the general creative energy of the Northwest Side” as supporting factors. It did not cite any financial modeling, because the business model does not include revenue.

Reaction from the Chicago business community was mixed, which in this context means that several people I called had not heard of Dumb Starbucks, several more remembered it vaguely from 2014 and were surprised to hear it still existed, and one venture partner at Hollowell Meridian Capital — a West Loop firm that has funded seventeen coffee-adjacent startups — said that the company’s unit economics were “genuinely difficult to evaluate” given the absence of any units. The Illinois Department of Revenue, asked whether a free-coffee parody art installation would be subject to state sales tax, issued a statement indicating that the question was “novel” and that the department was “reviewing the relevant statutes.” The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection said it had not yet received a permit application and would “respond appropriately upon receipt.” Dumb Starbucks said it planned to submit the application “in the coming weeks” and expected the review to go “smoothly, or at least parody-protected-ly.”

The expansion was announced at a press conference held Tuesday morning in a Logan Square storefront that bore a Dumb Starbucks sign but contained no coffee equipment, which a company representative explained was “consistent with how we roll.” Fielder, who has described Dumb Starbucks in various interviews as “a business, kind of” and “an experiment in what you can get away with if your lawyer is good enough,” was in attendance and answered questions for approximately twenty minutes before indicating that he had “another meeting” and departing in a direction that cameras followed briefly before he turned a corner and was gone. The store opens, pending permits, sometime this spring. The coffee will be free. The parody will be legally defensible. The line, if the Los Feliz precedent holds, will be around the block.