'Tully's Coffee' is a specialty
coffee retailer and wholesaler based in
Seattle, Washington. Its stores serve specialty coffees, espresso, baked goods, pastries, and coffee-related supplies. Tully's currently has the highest sales of whole bean coffee in grocery and supermarket stores. Tully's Coffee is well known for once following an expansion strategy of opening stores adjacent to the opposing coffee giant Starbucks, also based in Seattle. There's a running joke in Seattle that the easiest way to find a Tully's is to stand in front of a Starbucks and turn around.
History
Tully's opened its first store in Kent, Washington, in 1992. The founder of Tully's Coffee, Tom Tully O'Keefe, planned to rival the quickly expanding
Starbucks coffee. Tully's quickly developed into a strong regional specialty-coffee retailer. In 2006, Tully's made its first net profit. But more recently, the president and CEO has described Tully's focus as no longer on competing against the mega giant Starbucks, but on serving fine hand crafted coffee (and expanding into the Wholesale market).
It now operates nearly 100 stores in the
Greater Puget Sound area of
Washington,
San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and
Sun Valley,
Idaho, more recently
Arizona, and licenses its brand for use in
South Korea and
Japan. It has also opened several stores in
Stockholm. Tully's sold the most profitable unit of the company—its Japan partnership—for US$17.9 million in September, 2005.
In August 2007 plans for an IPO were placed on hold with the company citing a "volatile market." This decision though was made right after the company was unable to secure investor financing for the IPO. Fiscal 2006 losses amounted to $9.7 million.
Drinks
Tully's uses standard cup sizes: 8 oz (short), 12 oz (tall), 16 oz (grande), and 20 oz (veinte).
Wifi
As of Jan 14, 2007, Tully's Coffee offers free Wireless internet at designated Hotspots.
External links
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'Tully's Coffee'