National media outlets are reporting that 80 Caribou Coffees across the country will close in coming months, and another 88 will be converted to Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
Manager of Braemar Plaza's Caribou Coffee Katie Neblel said she could not comment on the future of her store nor her company at this juncture. There is also no word on how this will affect the new store planned for the Gainesville Promenade. However, media outlets are reporting that all stores within Virginia will somehow be affected by this company-wide decision.
Virginia is one of several states, including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois and Wisconsin where Caribou stores will be converted or closed. Stores in D.C. will also be affected by this change.
Caribou, known for their mountain lodge theme, will remain in operation in more mountainous and rural regions of the country, such as Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Western Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina and Colorado.
Caribou’s high-performing stores will re-open as Peet’s Coffee and Tea; low-performing stores will be closed.
According to various sources the transition results from the acquisition of Caribou by the German private equity firm, Joh. A. Benckiser Group GmbH, which recently made Caribou a private company. Because Benckiser Group already owns a majority stake in Peet’s, they will replace Caribou with Peet’s in some regions.
Various news media report that Peet’s Coffee and Tea is popular on the west coast, and perhaps Benckiser Group thought its more urbane image would click with east coast coffee drinkers as well.
On Caribou Coffee’s Facebook page, friends asked for more information about the change. They wanted to know if their local coffee shop would become a Peet’s or be closed down, but they did not receive much information from the coffee company.
Some customers expressed their discontent at how Caribou Coffee addressed the issue, specifically that they continued to promote their specialty drinks and desserts, and not comment on which stores would be closing. Others expressed their disappointment at losing the coffee shop, saying it is in many places only alternative to Starbucks, and many Caribou customers reported to dislike Starbucks.
On Twitter, followers were asked to call 888-CARIBOU for more information.
At the Braemar store, Niblel said she would provide more information as soon as she received the green light from her employers to do so. Employees at the Caribou Braemar said they were not too concerned by changes coming down the pike, and said that majority of the information has been made public at this point.
The only coffee house in Bristow, the Braemar Plaza Caribou is usually filled with professionals conducting business meetings, or typing away on their laptops. It attracts families on the weekends and offers more seating than most Starbucks.
Coffee drinkers and internet users at Caribou will not have to wait too long for news on their favorite coffee shop. News outlets are reporting that changes to Caribou will happen quickly, and some stores will be closed as early as April 14.
However, both companies are officially silent about which of their stores will be transitioning and which will be closing. On its website, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. is described as, “The premier specialty coffee and tea company in the United States.” The company was founded in 1966 in Berkeley, Calif. by Alfred Peet.
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