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Diedrich Coffee is a coffee company based in Irvine, CA. Its first coffee house in Orange County, CA was opened in 1983. It owns the American mall-based stores for Gloria Jean's Coffees. In Oregon, it previously ran Coffee People until nearly every location was bought and closed or converted into a Starbucks (Diedrich retained ownership of the Coffee People locations inside the Portland Airport.)[1]
History
The history of the company started with Charlotte Diedrich inheriting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica in 1916. Her son, Carl Diedrich joined the business in 1946 and purchased a coffee plantation in Antigua Guatemala in 1966. The first coffeehouse, a roastery, opened in Newport Beach in 1972.
Diedrich Coffee, a neighborhood coffeehouse, was founded by Martin Diedrich in 1983. He took over the retail, roasting and importing facets of the family business from retiring Carl. In September 1996, Diedrich Coffee went public.
The company bought up Coffee People, a company that included Gloria Jean's Coffee, in July 1999 [2][3] In June 2004, Martin Diedrich resigned his position at Diedrich Coffee.
In September 2006, Diedrich Coffee announced its plans to close its company-owned retail stores, 40 of which will be sold to rival Starbucks and reopened under that brand. Franchisee-owned stores will remain unchanged. The company intends to continue as a roaster and wholesaler of coffee beans.[4] However, a few independently owned and operated Deidrich locations remain open in California and Texas.
References
- ^ "Starbucks buys Coffee People stores, hippies mourn". AOL (2006-09-18). Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
- ^ Heritage Coffee people website. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
- ^ Diedrich Coffee of Irvine, Calif., to Buy Coffee People of Beaverton, Ore., Tribune News, February 12, 1999 courtesy link.
- ^ "Diedrich Coffee gives up fight". The Orange County Register (2006-09-14). Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
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