Lake View’s 4 Caribou Coffees to Become Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Caribou Coffee is downsizing, permanently closing a store in Lincoln Park, and transforming all four of Lake View’s locations into the California-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

Employees at the Lake View locations each confirmed the stores will make the transition a year from now. In addition, employees at the Lincoln Park shop at 2453 N. Clark St. say they just learned of the April 14 closing on Friday.

"It's all been very sudden," said one barista in Lincoln Park, who declined to give her name. 

The closure is part of a larger movement for the company—80 of the nation's struggling stores will close along with the Clark Street one and 88 others will be converted to Peet's Coffee & Tea locations, according to company representatives. 

The four locations in Lake View include:

• 3025 N. Clark St.
• 3240 N. Ashland Ave.
• 3300 N. Broadway St.
• 3500 N. Halsted St.

That conversion will take anywhere from a year to 18 months, said a Caribou spokeswoman on Monday. Meanwhile, the stores will remain open as a Caribou, employees said.

"Going forward, Caribou Coffee will be made up of 468 locations across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Western Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Denver, and ten international markets," Caribou representatives said in a written statement. 

The Minnesota-based chain currently has 18 stores in Chicago, most of which are likely to close permanently under the reorganization, employees said. There are 66 Illinois stores, overall. 

The only Peet’s locations in Illinois are in Chicago at 1000 W. North Ave., and in Evanston.

Representatives thanked dedicated Caribou fans Monday for their support over the years.

"While the decisions we’ve made have been difficult for our team in Minneapolis, as well as our team members across the country and our guests and fans everywhere, we are working to make this transition as seamless as possible for the Caribou community," they said.