Stronger Than Ever
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Chicago used to be known for having a tavern on every corner, but these days that corner spot is probably occupied by a coffee chain. Starbucks opened its first Chicago location in October 1987, and with Caribou Coffee and Seattle’s Best Coffee now vying for prime storefronts, the battle for the lucrative specialty coffee market is beginning to heat up. “This city is far from saturated when it comes to coffeehouses,” says Angela Krol, district sales manager for Seattle’s Best. In many instances the big three are increasing the size, or “footprint,” of their new outlets, adding more comfortable furniture, and broadening their menus to include food, exotic teas, and blended dairy beverages. In Naperville, Starbucks has unveiled its first drive-through operation in Illinois, and some Seattle’s Best locations have begun serving grilled-to-order panini, an Italian sandwich. Seattle’s Best isn’t as hell-bent on claiming the city as the other two; it’s privately held and generates a considerable chunk of its revenue from wholesaling to restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses. But Starbucks is publicly traded, with new investors hoping for higher dividends, and Caribou’s owners are debating whether to go public in the near future.
All three chains are eager to increase the amount of cash a patron spends during each visit by offering more food items. Seattle’s Best has added the panini and a small collection of prepackaged salads, and after test-marketing in Seattle and D.C., Starbucks will roll out a line of sandwiches and salads at its Chicago-area shops by mid-June. The strategy, they hope, will also draw more traffic during the slower lunch and dinner hours. “Right now most coffeehouses do about 70 percent of their business in the early morning,” says Walker of Seattle’s Best. Though Caribou has begun selling sandwiches in some shops, it’s less excited about the food idea. Charlie Utter, regional marketing manager for the company, thinks that introducing too many food items might confuse consumers and ultimately backfire: “The question becomes ‘When do we stop being a coffee bar and start being perceived as a restaurant?,’ which is something very different.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration by Heather McAdams.
