Six closed metro Detroit Caribou coffee shops are re-opening this week and next week as
Peet's Coffee & Tea.
After months of renovations and employee training, Peet's Coffee & Teas opened Nov. 11 in Royal Oak, Novi, Shelby and Commerce townships and Rochester Hills.
A shop in Grosse Pointe's Village business district is opening Nov. 18, as is a store in Ann Arbor.
The new Peet's are retaining and retraining many Caribou employees and also hiring new ones as well as investing in upgrades and decor at the new shops.
The Emeryville, Calif.-based company began selling the rarity of small-batch, high-quality roasted and brewed coffee from its first store in Berkeley, Calif. in 1966. The company is in the midst of an eastward expansion. It recently opened 18 stores in Ohio and four in the Pittsburgh area.
Many of its new stores are just doors away from Starbucks, which opened in 1971, five years after Peet's first shop. Friends of Alfred Peet, the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea, opened Starbucks after being taught by Peet, a Dutch immigrant who, as the story goes, was appalled by the coffee Americans drank. He wanted to enlighten them and teach them how to find the best beans and make a better cup.
Starbucks initially sold only roasted beans, not brewed coffee, but has since far surpassed Peet's in size.
Source: Peet's Coffee & Tea
Writer: Kim North Shine
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