| Type | Coffee |
|---|---|
| Owner | Starbucks |
| Country | United States |
| Related brands | Focus Brands |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | AFC Enterprises |
| Website | seattlesbest.com |
Seattle's Best Coffee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Starbucks, is a specialty coffee retailer and wholesaler based in Seattle, Washington.
Seattle's Best Coffee has retail stores and grocery sub-stores in 20 states and provinces and the District of Columbia. Sub-stores can also be found within many other businesses and college campuses, including J.C. Penney Department Stores and Subway Restaurant .
Seattle's Best Coffee is generally cheaper than that of its parent, and is marketed as more of a working class coffee compared to the (seen-to-be) more upmarket Starbucks.[1]
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Seattle's Best Coffee began as a combination ice cream and coffee shop called the Wet Whisker on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, Washington. Founder Jim Stewart purchased green coffee beans from local roasters to be roasted and sold at the Wet Whisker. By the end of the second summer, the shop had roasted and sold nearly 500 pounds (226 kg) of coffee.
By the end of 1970, the Whidbey Island Wet Whisker was sold, and Jim Stewart, along with his brother Dave, opened another ice cream and coffee store on Pier 70 on Seattle's Waterfront. The shop was called Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker. In 1982, Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker began serving espresso based beverages alongside other coffee products.
In 1983, the name again changed from Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker to Stewart Brothers Coffee. Shortly after, business began to expand, and new shops opened in Bellevue, Washington, and in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market a year later. In 1991, the company was renamed "Seattle's Best Coffee" after winning a local competition. In the same year, Seattle's Best Coffee was purchased by a group of investors who own Torrefazione Italia. They formed a new company made up of both parties called Seattle Coffee Holdings. In 1997, Seattle Coffee Holdings changed its name to Seattle Coffee Company.
In 1998, AFC Enterprises purchased Seattle Coffee Holdings and began franchising the Seattle's Best Coffee brand. During AFC Enterprise's ownership, Seattle Coffee Company's Vashon Island roasterie was upgraded and the company's organic coffee line was established. AFC Enterprises sold SCC to Starbucks in July 2003, retaining franchise rights in eleven countries, Hawaii and U.S. military bases. In November 2004, AFC sold those franchise rights (along with Cinnabon) to a newly-established affiliate of Roark Capital Group, FOCUS Brands, Inc.[2]
Starbucks closed the Vashon Island facility October 23, 2003 and moved production to their Kent, Washington roasterie. The historic Vashon Island roasterie building, Jim Stewart's original 1952 roaster and roastmaster Peter Larsen while no longer affiliated with SBC or Starbucks continues operations as The Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie.
The Borders bookstore chain signed a contract with Seattle's Best Coffee in 2004 to convert Borders' in-store cafes to Seattle's Best cafes. By 2006, approximately two-thirds of Borders' domestic superstores had completed the Seattle's Best conversion. Seattle's Best parent company Starbucks Corporation has contracted with Borders' competitor Barnes & Noble to sell its products in Barnes & Noble's Cafes. Starbucks also owns and operates locations within JCPenney department stores and Chapters and Indigo Books and Music bookstores in Canada.
In 2008, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. reached an agreement with Seattle's Best Coffee to open Seattle's Best Coffee in-store cafes and kiosks in leased departments in their stores. As of 2011[update], Seattle's Best Coffee are still expanding their coffeehouse cafes within the presence of larger J.C.Penny Department Stores across the country.
Seattle's Best Coffee Cafes and Kiosks can also be found in several JCPenney stores and on all 21 ships in the fleet of the cruise line Royal Caribbean International under the name "Latte-Tudes" or "Cafe Promenade". The presence of the Seattle's Best outlets on Royal Caribbean is also tied in with all other free-of-charge coffee items on the ship also being exclusively supplied by SBC.
On September 29, 2006, Blenz Coffee acquired four former Seattle's Best Coffee locations in downtown Vancouver, and reopened them as Blenz locations on October 2, 2006.[3]
On February 16, 2010, Burger King announced that they would add Seattle's Best Coffee to their menu in over 7,000 restaurants.[4]
On May 12, 2010, Starbucks announced a rebranding of Seattle's Best Coffee, with a new logo and plans to expand Seattle's Best Coffee distribution from 3,000 locations to 30,000 by the end of the 2010 fiscal year.[5] The rebranding of the Seattle's Best Coffee logo from the detailed, vintage logo to the clinical, generic design for the new mass market was met with much criticism, with the new logo being likened to a label for eye-drops, a blood-bank sign and a gas station logo. [6]
On February 8, 2011 Delta Air Lines and Seattle's Best entered into an agreement to offer Seattle's Best Coffee® onboard all domestic, international, and Delta Connection flights beginning March 1, 2011.[7]
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