Caribou Coffee Closes, Peet's Begins Renovation

It’s now official: Caribou Coffee has closed its doors across Ohio, including the location in Lakewood.

A sign in the window instructs customers to return to the location “in a few weeks” when the space at 15105 Detroit Avenue is converted into a Peet’s Coffee and Tea.

The interior renovations have already begun.

Starting this month, 10 former Caribou Coffee locations around Northeast Ohio will become Peet’s Coffee and Tea. 

Several other Caribou locations simply closed the doors. 

Lakewood has plenty of options for coffee, although Gypsy Beans closed its doors at Beck Center for the Arts this week.

The Root Café is located directly across Detroit Avenue from the new coffee shop.

Root co-owner Julie Hutchison, noting a stark difference in the Root's business model, recently told Lakewood Patch that she doesn’t expect much competition from the new coffee shop.

“We are local — duh,” she said. “We’re locally owned and operated. Local roaster, local food.”

In December of 2012, German conglomerate Joh. A. Benckiser Group said it would be buying the publicly traded Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee Co. for $340 million. Earlier in the year it bought Peet’s Coffee & Tea for $1 billion.

Peet’s Coffee was founded in Berkeley, CA, and is now headquartered in Emeryville, CA. The bulk of its stores are located in California. The company also maintains stores in Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington state.