Caribou Coffee facts for kids
 Logo since 2010
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Original Caribou Coffee in Edina, Minnesota
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail coffee and tea |
| Founded | December 14, 1992 Edina, Minnesota, United States |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, U.S. |
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Key people
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John Butcher, President & CEO |
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Number of employees
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7,000+ |
| Parent | JAB Holding Company |
Caribou Coffee Company is an American coffee company. It is also a popular chain of coffeehouses. The company started in Edina, Minnesota, in 1992. As of September 2023, Caribou Coffee has more than 750 locations around the world. Its main office is in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
How Caribou Coffee Started
John Puckett, who founded Caribou Coffee, used to work as a consultant. He helped other companies with their ideas and plans. After a trip to Denali National Park in Alaska, he and his wife, Kim, decided to start their own coffee company.
John moved to Minnesota to find the first store location. He also worked to get money to start the business. He first planned to open a store in a big office building in downtown Minneapolis. But the building's owner could not sign the lease. This was because another store in the building already had the only right to sell coffee there.
Because of this, John's plan for that first store fell through. So, he looked for a new spot in the suburbs. The very first Caribou Coffee shop opened in Edina, Minnesota, in December 1992. Edina is a suburb of Minneapolis.
Growing the Coffee Business
In 2003, Michael J. Coles became the CEO of Caribou Coffee. A CEO is the chief executive officer, the top boss of a company.
On September 29, 2005, Caribou Coffee offered its shares to the public. This is called an IPO. The company's shares were listed on NASDAQ, a stock market. CEO Coles said that Caribou grew from a company with falling sales to a public company listed on NASDAQ in less than three years.
By 2009, Caribou Coffee had more than 6,000 employees. In December 2012, a German company called JAB Holding Company bought Caribou Coffee. This made Caribou a private company again. Even after being bought, Caribou Coffee kept its own brand and management team. It also stayed based in Minneapolis.
In May 2013, Caribou Coffee announced some changes. They planned to close 80 stores in several states. They also planned to change 88 other stores into Peet's Coffee & Tea shops. Caribou Coffee stores stayed open in many other states. These included California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Caribou Coffee also has many stores outside the United States. They have 282 stores run by other companies (franchises) in nine international places. These include Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2019, John Butcher became the new CEO of Caribou Coffee.
On August 5, 2021, Caribou Coffee joined with Panera Bread and Einstein Bros. Bagels. Together, they formed a new company called Panera Brands. A few months later, on November 8, 2021, Panera Brands filed paperwork to offer its stock to the public.
See also
- List of coffeehouse chains
