Shirlington Caribou Coffee to Become Peet’s Coffee

Caribou Coffee, which operates throughout Northern Virginia, plans to close 80 of its coffee shops nationwide.

Caribou's Crystal City location has already closed and the only remaining shop, at 4115 Campbell Ave. in Shirlington, will convert to a Peet’s Coffee & Tea. On Monday, Caribou issued a statement attributed to CEO Mike Tattersfield:

"Over the past few months, we at Caribou have revisited our business strategy, including closely evaluating our performance by market to make decisions that best position us for long-term growth.

"With that, we will be closing 80 underperforming stores on April 14th, and an additional 88 coffeehouses across Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin will be converted to Peet’s Coffee & Tea locations over the next 12 to 18 months.

"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. 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.

"We look forward to continuing to deliver extraordinary experiences to our guests and fans, and thank everyone for their passion and commitment to Caribou. For any questions, please contact 888.CARIBOU."

Some shops are slated to close as early as Sunday, according to various news reports.

Peet's, based in San Francisco, was founded in 1966 in Berkeley, Calif., by Alfred Peet, according to its website. See more about Peet's on its Facebook page.

Solomon Encubahre, manager at the Shirlington location, said on Monday, “We won’t be closing down. However, all Caribous in the area will be converting to Peet’s Coffee in the fall.”

Caribou Coffee's Northern Virginia locations include coffee shops in:

• Burke
• Ashburn
• Bristow
• Lorton
• Fairfax (three locations)
• Falls Church (three locations)
• Sterling
• Vienna