| Type | Public (NASDAQ: PEET) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail coffee and tea |
| Founded | In 1966 in Berkeley, California |
| Headquarters | Emeryville, California |
| Key people | Alfred Peet (1920-2007), Founder |
| Products | Coffee, tea, and pastries |
| Revenue | $284.8 mil. (FY2008 net) |
| Employees | 3,750 as of Mar. 1, 2009 |
| Website | peets.com |
Peet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and retailer. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet (1920–2007) in Berkeley, California as "Peet's Coffee, Tea & Spices", Peet's is especially known for its strong, dark roasted coffee, including its Major Dickason blend.
Contents |
Alfred Peet started Peet's Coffee & Tea as a single store in 1966 in Berkeley, California. Peet's original outlet is still located on the corner of Walnut and Vine (2124 Vine Street) in what's known as the 'Gourmet Ghetto' of North Berkeley, close to the University of California, Berkeley (although it has been renovated to match the look of the newer Peet's outlets elsewhere). This first store location expanded into the neighboring unit to accommodate additional seating area, bathrooms, and a museum space which displays Peet's memorabilia, historical coffee equipment, and various forms of literature.
Peet grew up in the coffee business while living in the Netherlands 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 plant in nearby Alameda. Alfred Peet died of cancer on August 29, 2007, at the age of 87 in his home in Ashland, Oregon.
The three founders of Starbucks, who knew Alfred Peet personally, founded Starbucks in Seattle, Washington and bought the coffee beans for Starbucks directly from Peet's during their first year of business in 1971. Peet sold his business in 1979 but stayed on as a coffee buyer until 1983. In 1984 Jerry Baldwin, one of the original founders of Starbucks and Alfred Peet's former partner, and co-owner Jim Reynolds, the roastmaster, with a group of investors bought Peet's' four Bay Area locations. In 1987, Baldwin and Peet's owners sold the Starbucks chain to focus on Peet's, and Baldwin and Howard Schultz, Starbucks' new owner, entered into a no-compete agreement in the Bay Area.
Peet's has a devoted following, sometimes known as Peetniks (a play on Beatniks) due to their strong customer loyalty.[1]
Peet's operates 193 retail locations within the US as of the first quarter of 2010. Most locations are in California, though there are also Peet's locations in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, and Massachusetts.
Peet's is located at various transit centers, including several airport locations, such as both major Houston airports (HOU and IAH), Reno/Tahoe (RNO) in Reno, Nevada, Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York City, and all three major airports in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFO, OAK, & SJC). A number of franchised Peet's kiosks opened in BART stations around the Bay Area in early 2008.[2]
In 2003, the first full-service Peet's store on a university campus was opened within the Clark Center building at Stanford University.[3] Peet's coffee is also currently served at all Stanford Dining locations. In 2005, UC Berkeley opened its own Peet's franchise on campus in Dwinelle Hall and as a campus restaurant near its existing dining area. Similarly in 2009, locations opened at the UW–Madison, Villanova University, Memorial Union and at UC San Diego.
Peet's coffee is also sold at many grocery stores in the United States.
Peet's has been much slower to expand than Starbucks, focusing more on coffee and tea retailing, rather than a coffee bar. 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. Peet's also operated a store in Austin, Texas from 2001 to 2005.
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 May 2011, Peet's has a market cap of roughly $636 million, about 2.3% of Starbucks's roughly $27.2 billion.[4]
In 2007 Peet's opened its new and completely green roasting plant in Alameda, California. This new plant replaced the former operations in Emeryville, California.[5]