Second Cup

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Second Cup Logo

Second Cup is a large Canadian-owned chain of cafés, the largest specialty coffee retailer in Canada. Founded in 1975 by Tom Culligan and Frank O'Dea, Culligan eventually purchased O'Dea's shares. After building it to a 150-store chain, he sold it in 1988 to Michael Bregman, the founder of mmmarvellous mmmuffins.

There are close to 500 Second Cup outlets (combination of corporate and franchise outlets) across Canada. From 2002, the company was owned directly by Cara Operations Limited. On November 16, 2006, Cara sold it to Dinecorp Hospitality, Inc. Dinecorp is controlled by former Cara CEO Gabe Tsampalieros, who is now chair of Second Cup. Dinecorp is also Cara's largest franchisee, operating Harvey's and Swiss Chalet chains largely in Ontario, along with a few Alberta and Atlantic Canada operations.

Select Second Cup cafes are "internet hotspots", which means they offer wireless internet access.

In 2001, Rhéal Mathieu, a member of Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) who in 1967 was sentenced to nine years in prison for terrorist activities including murder, was convicted of the firebombing of three Second Cup coffee shops in Montreal. Mathieu targeted them because of the company's use of its incorporated English name "Second Cup". Mathieu was sentenced to one month in jail. After the media coverage of the firebombings, many Second Cups in Quebec changed their signs to "Les cafés Second Cup."

Second Cup has expanded tremendously since its inception. There are Second Cup franchises in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and one in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.