Starbucks-owned coffeehouse chain inks deal with Chevron ExtraMile for West Coast locations
Seattle’s Best Coffee beverages will be sold in Chevron ExtraMile convenience stores on the West Coast beginning this spring, the Starbucks Corp. subsidiary said Thursday.
While products initially will be offered at gas stations in California, Washington and Oregon, Seattle’s Best officials said Chevron plans to roll out the premium-brewed coffee to all 550 ExtraMile locations by June.
The move marks the coffee brand’s first entry into the U.S. convenience store sector, which has been adding breakfast offerings in recent months. Quick-service chains Taco Bell, Burger King and Subway also carry Seattle’s Best Coffee.
Last year, Seattle’s Best lost nearly 475 locations in Borders Bookstores when that chain was liquidated. The Seattle-based coffeehouse chain has about 100 units in the United States and Canada.
Seattle’s Best has continued to grow its points of distribution rapidly, with the goal of bringing premium coffee to places where it was not sold previously.
The company is testing store-within-a-store outlets in Walmart Supercenters in Canada, as well as in Mac convenience stores in that country.
Seattle’s Best packaged coffee also will be sold in about 150 Kmart stores starting this month, with distribution to all 1,300 of the retail stores by the end of the year, company officials said.
Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
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