The top four national coffee shop chains, according to their national sales numbers, are Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Tim Horton's and lastly Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. And of course we all know them well! So, just how many locations do these four coffee shop retailers have? Let's start with the biggest, that being Starbucks with just over 8,000 locations in the United States alone. Caribou Coffee comes in at 322, Tim Horton's with 292 and then following up the pack is Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with 213 total locations as of this writing.
Starbucks is truly the big player in the retail coffee industry and even has Seattle's Best, which has 160 U.S. locations, as part of their corporate family of retail coffee shops not counted in the above 8,000 number. Seattle's Best coffee shops are very similar to Starbucks but have a different color scheme and quite often are located in different neighborhoods than the many Starbucks locations. One has to wonder if it is not the very same coffee just packaged differently. And of course, there are numerous regional retail coffee shops that did not make this list which would include such establishments as Tully's, Port City Java and Coffee Beanery to name a few.
It was 1971 when the first Starbucks coffee shop opened its doors. Opening their doors at Pike Place Market in Seattle Washington Starbucks was able to capture the hearts of coffee enthusiasts by offering fresh roasted and ground coffee from the very finest coffee beans available from around the world. If you were to ask a Starbucks employee what their company mission is here is the answer you will likely receive: to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. Nowadays, Starbucks has 15,000 selling units in 50 countries all over the world. And that is not all, Starbucks is also known as the world's leading roaster, as well as retailer, of premium specialty coffee.
Caribou Coffee has coffee shops located in 15 states in the United States, but they are mostly accumulated in the eastern and mid-west parts of the country.
Since 1990 Caribou Coffee has been serving their loyal patrons premium coffee drinks which has created a significant loyal customer base. The folks at Caribou Coffee prefer not to talk about their mission as a corporation because they feel their true mission is to serve their loyal customers. Instead, the folks at Caribou Coffee prefer to focus on creating an extraordinary "experience that feeds the soul" for each of their customers.
Some what different than Starbucks Tim Horton's offers coffee and donuts to their patrons and has locations throughout the United States and Canada. Of course we Americans love our donuts with our coffee - don't we?! Of course we do! It was 1964 when Tim Horton's first opened their doors for business. Top quality coffee, a focus on customer service and offering daily fresh products that satisfy their loyal customers are the primary focus of this company.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a family company specialized in selling coffee bean/coffee products, rare kinds of tea as well as accessories specifically tailored for both the coffee and tea drinker. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was founded in 1963 - making the company almost fifty years old. The folks at coffee Bean & Tea Leaf take pride in providing all of their customers a destination and lifestyle quality experience each time they come to buy their coffee from them. The company also takes pride in serving the communities they do business in.
Each of the above mentioned coffee retailers share one thing in common - passion for excellent coffee! Whether it be Starbucks or Tim Horton's you will always get a consistent high quality product with each visit. So when you have the need for caffeine walk down to your nearest corner and more than likely you will encounter one of these four coffee retailers. Now go and enjoy your coffee!
About the Author:
Dave Lashier wrote this article because he loves coffee. For espresso machine reviews that give you the most thorough information pertaining to espresso machine reviews found anywhere online visit www.ESPRESSOMACHINEREVIEWS.biz