A more than three-decade-old outpost of California java chain Peet’s Coffee is expected to close as the company an $18 billion takeover of the beloved brand.
The shop in San Francisco’s Pork Gulch neighborhood will close permanently by the end of the month, along with more locations of the Berkeley-born brand to follow, a Peet’s spokesperson told SFGATE.
“These closures reflect a broader effort to align our business with long-term growth priorities and current market conditions,” spokesperson Stephanie O’Brien said of the location, which opened on Polk Street in 1993.
“We are deeply grateful to our incredible employees and loyal customers for their continued commitment to the brand. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to the quality, craftsmanship, and heritage that have defined Peet’s for the past 60 years, while embracing new opportunities to innovate and grow.”
Soda giant Keurig Dr Pepper is in the process of acquiring Peet’s Coffee’s parent company, JDE Peet’s, in an all-cash deal expected to close sometime this year, Reuters reported.
The first Peet’s Coffee opened in Berkley in 1966. Its founder, Alfred Peet, moved to the United States from Indonesia, where he was working as a tea tester and fell in love with the dark-roast coffee they drank. He was shocked to discover the difference between the coffee there and in America.
“I came to the richest country in the world, so why are they drinking the lousiest coffee?” Peet said.
In 1971 Peet mentored three entrepreneurs who wanted to launch their own coffee company. That company turned out to be Starbucks, and for a time Peet supplied them with beans.
