Santorum Speech at Grosse Pointe South, Restaurant Burglary, Caribou Coffee Changes and More

Grosse Pointe Patch recaps the news from the past week.

Miss the latest local headlines? We got you covered with this one-stop reading recap.

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Sue Marie

5:43 pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Richard, I have the same question you have. What are the Grosse Pointe Schools afraid of?   more ›

Caribou Coffee in Village to Convert to West Coast Chain

More information released Monday by Caribou Coffee officials reveal changes are ahead for many locations throughout the mid-west, including the Village location that is slated to be converted to a Peet's Coffee and Tea in the coming year.

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 …

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Caribou Coffee on Mack Avenue to Close April 14 in Grosse Pointe Woods

Employees at the Caribou Coffee on Mack Avenue have begun telling customers about their upcoming closing. The last day is April 14.

First acknowledged Friday, the Caribou Coffee on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Woods will close its doors later this month. The closure is a decision that came from the corporate level. Employees began telling customers Saturday and Sunday about the impending closure. Word has traveling quickly through the Pointes. There was a thread on the company's corporate Facebook page related to the closure of the Grosse Pointe Woods location with comments from several Grosse Pointers. The thread was removed from the page. The decision relates to a corporate acquisition of Caribou by Joh. A. Benckiser Group (JAB) in December 2012. The same company also acquired another large coffee company, Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc., which happened in October 2012. …

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Ronald Wolf

3:14 pm on Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Support Biggby, its not only an American owned business, it is a Michigan owned business, hopefully they will have outside seating. It is also franchised unlike Peets coffee and tea. Michigan is losing its youth to other states and one reason why is that jobs that help them pay for college are drying up. A German or other foreign based company really does not care about Michigan, it cares only …   more ›

Caribou Zombie Walk

Take a walk on the wild side and head over to Caribou Coffee to strut your zombie costume and raise money for good causes!

  The Caribou Zombie Walk from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Oct. 20 will raise money for the COTS Emergency Shelter in Detroit, as well as CancerCare. The event is hosted by Caribou Coffee at 19419 Mack Ave. in Grosse Pointe Woods; hosted by Caribou Coffee. The cost is a donation of your choice, $5-$10 recommended.  Free drink coupons will be given for awesome costumes, door prizes for the first 25 zombies registered with donation and a grand prize for the largest donation.

Where to Get Free Coffee for National Coffee Day 2012

Get your caffeine on and celebrate with a free cup of coffee.

If the first words out of your mouth every morning are, “I’ll have a large coffee”—or if you can’t even speak until after you’ve had your java fix—there's a national holiday created especially for you. America will put staunch tea drinkers to shame on Sept. 29, when coffee fiends can rejoice and celebrate their beloved coffee bean with free brew from national chains. Coffee was first brought to America in the mid-1600s in a shipment en route to “New Amsterdam,” now known as New York, according to the National Coffee Association. We have that shipment and the Boston Tea Party to thank for turning the nation into coffee drinkers.   National coffee chains will be giving out free cups of coffee during the week of Sept. 23.  …

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Manager of Caribou Coffee in Village to Send Coffee to Overseas Troops

Patrons are encouraged to buy coffee on Friday, Dec. 16--a pound at a time-- that will be packaged up and sent to troops overseas for Christmas.

Buying gifts for loved ones can be a real kick. Buying something for someone else's loved one who is far away and performing a courageous duty is a truly amazing feeling. Vicky Valente, manager of the Caribou Coffee in the Village, had a great idea to help make this happen, and all Grosse Pointers can participate. On Friday, December 16, she will ask patrons to buy a pound of coffee to donate to our troops overseas. Valente will then package it all up and make one shipment that is expected to arrive in time for Christmas. “I want it there for Christmas,” said Valente, a City of Grosse Pointe resident as well. Valente knows that her customers are busy buying gifts for those individuals on their shopping lists. And part of the kick of buying…

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Defer Elementary Care Packages, More on Way to Afghanistan

Grosse Pointe Park Dad part of air force unit that will be away for holidays and Defer Elementary prepared care packages for him and his fellow soldiers.

Some boxed-up comfort for military men and women is headed to Afghanistan from students, parents and teachers at Defer Elementary in Grosse Pointe Park. Besides the donations and volunteer hours put in by the Defer community, Grosse Pointers who made donations, purchased discounted coffee and showed up for special contribution days at Caribou Coffee last month also made possible the shipment of five boxes of coffee, jerky and hard candy for the 107th Red Devils Fighter Squadron. About 300 members of the Selfridge Air National Guard based unit deployed last month and will return in January. Defer Dad Jason Davis, a fighter pilot, went with them, leaving behind his wife and daughters, their first Christmas apart. Defer teacher Molly Collins …

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Defer Elementary Organizes Care Packages for Air Squadron, Grosse Pointe Dad

Grosse Pointe Park school gets help this weekend from Caribou and customers whose purchases help pay for shipping and contents of care packages.

Defer Elementary School is showing support to a local dad and 300 Michigan-based members of his air force squadron by organizing a care package collection. The effort to show some hometown love and support to the 107th Red Devils Fighter Squadron has spread beyond the school and into the community with Caribou Coffee in the Village getting involved and parents and students offering their time and money to help. They're asking others to help too--by stopping in at Caribou today of Friday or by making a monetary donation at the school through next week. Jason Davis, who pilots an A-10 Warthog and is dad to Defer fourth- and second- graders, Blaire and Brooke, and husband to Amanda, will be away with his squadron through January--the family's…

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Caribou Coffee to Help Defer Elementary Student Council

The coffee shop is donating 10 percent of its profits to Defer's student council, who is holding a fundraiser to send coffee, hard candy and other supplies to overseas soldiers.

In Grosse Pointe, Caribou Coffee provides a not-so-typical illustration of a national company that puts community nearly on par with profits. In the Village, Caribou is thought of as a comfortable gathering spot, often the location of choice for committee meetings and regularly offers up a percentage of its proceeds to local schools. When store manager Vicky Valente received a call from Defer Elementary teacher Molly Collins, she couldn’t resist the temptation to help and even add to the idea. A well-known national coffee company, Caribou has more than 500 locations but allows store managers to make decisions about community involvement. For larger commitments, a regional manager makes the request to the corporate office. “We are a people-…

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