Orange County-based coffee chain will close some locations as a result of the Starbucks takeover.
CURRY CHANDLER
Assistant News Editor
Students who enjoy hanging out at Diedrich Coffee in the Malibu Colony Plaza may want to grab one more cup of joe before the shop is gone for good.
In an agreement announced Sep. 14, Starbucks Corp. has purchased a majority of Diedrich Coffee Inc.’s company owned and operated stores. Reports placed the price tag at around $13.5 million.
According to a Starbucks spokesperson, the acquired locations will be converted into Starbucks Coffee stores over a period of several months following the close of the transaction.
“All non-management employees in good standing will be offered positions with Starbucks and managers will be provided the opportunity to interview for positions,” according to a Diedrich news release.
The Malibu Diedrich is one of the company-owned stores directly affected. Mike Gibson, a manager at the coffee shop, confirmed that his store had been notified. He said non-managerial employees had been guaranteed employment with Starbucks, but his understanding was that the jobs offered were in different locations, not necessarily Malibu.
Starbucks acquired the leases for 25 Southern California Diedrich stores.
“This is the company I created and poured my soul into for 20 years,” founder Martin Diedrich told the Orange County Register on Sept. 15. “It’s like closing that whole book and putting it to rest.”
Diedrich severed his ties with the company in 2004.
“Diedrich tried to make coffee the authentic way, without stupid frilly names,” said Chase Thomas, Pepperdine senior and former Diedrich employee. “Most Starbucks drinkers don’t even know what a Macchiato actually is. It’s a shot of espresso marked with foam: not what you get at Starbucks.”
Thomas worked at the coffee shop for about a year and said he is still incredulous about the sell-out to Starbucks. He called the move a further step in the “McDonald-ization” of coffee.
“We were always trying to compete with the latest Starbucks’ inventions and now it will be impossible to order any Diedrich favorites,” he said. “It really makes me sad that a company so devoted to being high quality and unique was bought out by someone so cheap and commercial.”
Not every student has found the transaction so stirring.
“I don’t drink coffee,” said Carly Pippin, a senior humanities major. “I’ve just had their orange juice. My friend, hoping to spur me to drink coffee, invited me to join the [Diedrich] Facebook group.”
If the Malibu Colony storefront is indeed transformed into a Starbucks, it will be less than a mile from the Starbucks on Cross Creek Road.
Diedrich franchise locations will not be affected by the deal, according to a statement released by Starbucks.
“Starbucks is not acquiring the Diedrich/Coffee People brands, the Diedrich mail order business, wholesale business or any other locations,” stated the release.
Coffee People is the brand name Diedrich stores operate under in Oregon, which were also picked up in the acquisition.
Irvine-based Diedrich reported widened fiscal fourth quarter losses in the wake of the deal with Starbucks. Losses totaled $3.1 million, or 59 cents per share, according to the company’s report released Tuesday. The company’s losses for the same quarter last year were $1 million.
Last year the company sold the international arm of its Gloria Jean franchising chain to fund further expansion.
09-28-2006
