Batavia Caribou Coffee Among 80 Closing; Geneva Caribou Stays Open

Geneva's Caribou Coffee is among the surviving stores, but the Batavia Caribou Coffee shop on Randall Road is one of the casualties among 80 Caribou franchises that will close this weekend. 

Maggie at the Geneva Caribou said, "We're OK."

An employee at the Batavia Caribou, who asked not to be named, said "all employees are going to be let go."

Caribou employees are team members who do everything from tending the coffee bar to cooking food to serving customers at the register to cleaning up. Except for store managers, they are hourly employees.

"Everybody has equal duties," the Batavia employee said.

Asked what he or she would do after the final day, the employee said, "I have no idea."

The company let Batavia employees know about the pending store closings on Friday but has yet to share specifics regarding the closing date and time or whether employees would be eligible for any kind of severance pay.

"We'll find out on Friday, I think," the Batavia employee said. "(We do know that) our manager is going to be the reserve manager in Geneva."

According to media reports, stores will shutter their doors at noon Sunday, April 14. 

Select locations in Kane and DuPage counties will remain open, including one location each in Geneva, Naperville, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove.

An employee at the Naperville location at 95th Street and Route 59 said about 12 employees will be out of work when the store closes.

“None of us knows anything. None of us knows our (job) futures,” said the employee, who did not want to give her name. 

In a statement issued Monday, Caribou CEO Mike Tattersfield said:

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.

On Twitter, Caribou said while some of its stores are closing, more than 400 will remain open.

According to the manager of Naperville's 1523 N. Aurora Road location, the stores that remain open will "slowly refocus" on becoming Peet's Coffee & Tea Company, a San Fransico-based company which has nearly 200 locations nationwide.  

The stores remaining open include:

• Geneva, 507 S. Third St.
• Naperville: 686 E. Ogden Ave.
• Wheaton: 390 W. Front St.
• Glen Ellyn: 495 W. Roosevelt Road
• Downers Grove: 5100 Main St.

Three stores in Naperville, another location in Wheaton, and a store in Darien will close Sunday.

Caribou is based in Minneapolis, MN, and has more than 500 company-owned locations in 16 states, employing more than 6,000. In 2009, the company had $262 million in revenues.

The decision relates to a corporate acquisition of Caribou by Joh. A. Benckiser Group (JAB) in December. The same company had also acquired another large coffee company, Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc., in October. 

There are 66 stores in Illinois, but exactly which will close was uncertain. 

A Boycott Caribou page has been created on Facebook. So far, it has 82 likes. 

"Don't forget to show your local Caribou and their employees your support this last week. I know it will very tough for them after all the great relationships they have built over the years with their customers," a status update on the page said. 

Stores that are closing include:

• Batavia, 201 N. Randall Road
• Darien: 2445 75th St.
• Wheaton: 280 Danada Square West
• Naperville – Design Pointe: 1316 N. Route 59
• Naperville – Riverbrook Shopping Center: 1523 N. Aurora Road
• Naperville: 2879 95th St.

What do you think about the company closing its locations? Tell us in comments!