Caribou Coffee

Caribou Coffee, the coffee/bakery chain founded in 1992 in Minnesota, began as a coffee shop for office workers and was only open Monday through Friday. Founder John Puckett, however, had to relocate to the suburbs when his initial downtown lease was rejected.

Caribou Coffee launched its IPO in 2005 under CEO Michael Coles, trading under the symbol CBOU. However, the chain was taken private in 2012 when German private-equity company JAB Holding bought Caribou Coffee for $340 million. As of 2021, JAB Holding owned Peet’s Coffee, Panera Bread, JDE, Pret A Manger and Krispy Kreme among others.

In 2013, Caribou Coffee announced plans to close 80 stores and convert 88 others to JAB Holding brand Peet’s Coffee. In 2018, Caribou Coffee and its parent company came under fire for a massive data breech that left customer credit cards compromised.

Key Data: Caribou Coffee

Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minn.

Segment: Quick Service

Restaurant Segment: LSR Coffee/Bakery

Number of US Locations: 447

2020 Sales: $283.6 million

Annual Growth

Source: Datassential Firefly 500

CEO: John Butcher

Parent/Group: JAB Holding Company