Caribou Coffee in Village to Convert to West Coast Chain

The Caribou Coffee on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Woods is one 80 stores throughout the mid-west that are considered 'underperforming' and will close by April 14, according to a statement released by the president of the Minnesota-based company.

Additionally, the Caribou Coffee in the Village will be converted in the coming year to a Peet's Coffee and Tea, which is a west coast chain.

The decision to close certain locations was announced to employees Friday. Employees of the Grosse Pointe Woods location began telling customers Saturday and Sunday about the impending closure, which is scheduled for April 14. Other Caribous are closing even faster.

Many Grosse Pointers shared their disappointment on Grosse Pointe Patch and Facebook not to mention in the coffee shop itself. Word of the closures has been fast traveling through the affected communities as evidenced early Monday when Caribou's corporate Facebook page was innundated with comments about closures in Michigan, Ohio and other states.

A thread had been started by Grosse Pointers over the weekend but it was removed from the Facebook feed.

In response to a request by Rochester Patch, Mike Tattersfield, president and CEO of Caribou Coffee said the following Monday:

"Over the past few months, we at Caribou have revisited our business strategy, including closely evaluating our performance by market to make decisions that best position us for long-term growth.  With that, we will be closing 80 underperforming stores on April 14th, and an additional 88 coffeehouses across Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin will be converted to Peet’s Coffee & Tea locations over the next 12 to 18 months. Going forward, Caribou Coffee will be made up of 468 locations across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Western Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Denver, and ten international markets. While the decisions we’ve made have been difficult for our team in Minneapolis, as well as our team members across the country and our guests and fans everywhere, we are working to make this transition as seamless as possible for the Caribou community. We look forward to continuing to deliver extraordinary experiences to our guests and fans, and thank everyone for their passion and commitment to Caribou. For any questions, please contact 888.CARIBOU."