coffee business strategies

My mail today included a humility-free plea from Coffee Fest, the industry’s self-proclaimed “top retail show,” instructing me and other members of the Specialty Coffee Association of America to express concern with the SCAA board’s consideration to relocate its annual convention to Seattle for 6 out of 8 years annually beginning in 2014. “While Coffee [...]

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The Seattle Times today released video of the interior of Starbucks’ new 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea concept and what’s most impressive about the design is that it, essentially, copies most other independent coffee shops started in the past 3 years. Take a look at it for yourself: Note the “we ran out of cash” [...]

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Greg Lamm of the Puget Sound Business Journal looks at Tully’s new plan for expansion and quotes my analysis of the situation. Franchising makes good business sense for Tully’s because it spreads the risk to the franchisee, said Andrew Hetzel, a specialty coffee industry consultant and blogger based in Hawaii. But Hetzel said he wonders [...]

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Reporting from Seattle, Michael Allen Smith of Coffee Hero reports on one new Starbucks location that opened recently in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, despite the closing trend. What do I see when I pass the NEW Starbucks location? The same behavior I see in front of the original Starbucks. Tourists are having their photos taken [...]

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While recreating a complete log of my 2006 travel schedule for my friends and yours at the Internal Revenue Service, I thought to myself, “hey, this would be kind of fun, if not for the looming deadline and possible monetary penalties if I make a mistake.” So, in the quiet last days of 2008, I’ve [...]

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