Peet's Coffee & Tea
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Peet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and retailer. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's has a devoted following, sometimes known as the Peetniks due to their strong customer loyalty to Peet's wide range of varietals and signature blends of coffee and tea. Peet's is especially noted for its strong, darkly roasted coffee; it advertises that the beans are hand-roasted and delivered to stores as fresh as possible.
Company history
Alfred Peet started Peet's Coffee & Tea as a single store in 1966 in Berkeley, California. Known as the "grandfather of specialty coffee", Peet's original outlet is still located on the corner of Walnut and Vine in Berkeley, close to the University of California. Peet grew up in the coffee business while living in Holland as a child. Moving to San Francisco, California when he was 35, he began roasting coffee as he knew it. Peet's now roasts at a small plant in nearby Emeryville.Peet's was the original inspiration for now-rival Starbucks. The three founders of Starbucks knew Alfred Peet personally, founded Starbucks in Seattle, Washington as kindred spirits, and bought the coffee beans for Starbucks directly from Peet's during their first year of business in 1971. In 1984 Jerry Baldwin, one of the original founders of Starbucks, led a group of investors that purchased Peet's Coffee & Tea. For some time Baldwin and some of the other investors owned Peet's and an interest in Starbucks; eventually, they elected to run Peet's as its own operation. Baldwin brought Jim Reynolds with him from Starbucks when he and other investors sold their interests in the Seattle chain. Reynolds played a very important role at Peet's as coffee buyer and roastmaster until his retirement in 2004; he currently consults with the company and holds the title "Roastmaster Emeritus". Baldwin and Howard Schultz, the new owner of Starbucks, negotiated a non-compete period, keeping Starbucks out of the San Francisco Bay Area for five years after the sale.
Peet's has been much slower to expand than Starbucks, and has maintained (to some extent) more of its focus as a coffee and tea retailer, rather than a coffee bar, a distinction that has long separated Peet's from Starbucks. Peet's is still primarily a California operation, with a few stores in other metropolitan areas (see below) and a short-lived four-store partnership in Tokyo.
The company went public in January 2001 (symbol PEET). After a very successful IPO, shares struggled through the first year but have posted solid gains ever since. As of 2006-06, Peet's was listed as a competitor of Starbucks with a market cap of roughly $393M compared to Starbucks's roughly $28B.
Peet's as a retail company
Peet's operates 118 retail locations within the US, mostly in California, where Peet's is headquartered. In 2005, UC Berkeley opened its own Peet's franchise as a campus restaurant near its existing dining area. Peet's coffee is also sold at many grocery stores in the United States, including Safeway, Albertsons, Ralphs and Whole Foods Market.Current store locations
- California (96)
- Colorado (2)
- Illinois (2)
- Massachusetts (6)
- Oregon (5)
- Washington (8)
- Texas (0) The store in Austin closed in 2006
External links
Reference
- [Peet's Company Information] including Annual Report
- "Coffee Times: Peet's History" San Francisco Chronicle 4/30/1997 page B4
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