News

Seattle's Best going strong

August 31, 2011

Twelve Seattle's Best Coffee stores have opened throughout North America since April due to the company's attractive business opportunity, according to Jim McDermet, senior vice president and general manager of Seattle's Best Coffee.

"Our retail locations are important to our business and franchising will be the engine for our continued retail growth," he said.

The expansion reflects a Seattle's Best Coffee strategy outlined earlier in the year. The new retail locations build upon the brand's distribution network of franchised locations, company-operated stores, relationships with restaurant chains and foodservice locations. Today, the brand has more than 50,000 places where its coffee is served.

Houston serves commuters

In the Houston market, Amin Gheewalla, president of Hi Rise Amenities Inc., opened his third franchised Seattle's Best Coffee location in late August. The new location is in the El Paso Energy Building in the downtown Tunnel System, an interconnected series of walkways, restaurants and shops. The strategy behind Hi Rise Amenities' expansion has been putting Seattle's Best Coffee along pathways for downtown commuters.

"I am putting great coffee into the hands of hundreds of commuters in Houston each day, and I'm also creating jobs in my hometown," Gheewalla said.

College students get buzzed in Wisconsin

According to The National Coffee Association 2011 National Coffee Drinking Trends Study, 40 percent of 18-24 year olds drink coffee daily, up from 31 percent in 2010. Most recently, Seattle's Best Coffee opened the doors of a new franchise location in the student union at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. The new cafe is the latest in a series of Seattle's Best locations that serve college students at Duke University Medical Center, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, University of Southern California, the State University of New York at New Paltz and Portland State University.