Seattle's Best Coffee
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| Product type | Coffee |
|---|---|
| Owner | Starbucks |
| Country | United States |
| Related brands | Focus Brands |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | AFC Enterprises |
| Website | www |
Seattle's Best Coffee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Starbucks, is a specialty coffee retailer and wholesaler based in Seattle, Washington.
Seattle's Best Coffee has retail stores and grocery sub-stores in 20 states and provinces and the District of Columbia. Sub-stores can also be found within many other businesses and college campuses, including JCPenney, Subway restaurants.
Seattle's Best Coffee is generally cheaper than that of its parent, and is marketed as more of a working class coffee compared to the more upmarket Starbucks.
Seattle's Best Coffee began as a combination ice cream and coffee shop called the Wet Whisker in Coupeville on Whidbey Island, northwest of Seattle, Washington in 1969. Founder Jim Stewart purchased green coffee beans from local roasters to be roasted and sold at the Wet Whisker. By the end of the second summer, the shop had roasted and sold nearly 500 pounds (226 kg) of coffee. By the end of the following year, the Vashon Island Wet Whisker was sold, and Jim Stewart, along with his brother Dave, opened another ice cream and coffee store on Pier 70 on Seattle's Waterfront. The shop was called Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker. In 1982, Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker began serving espresso based beverages alongside other coffee products.
In 1983, the name again changed from Stewart Brothers Wet Whisker to Stewart Brothers Coffee. Shortly after, business began to expand, and new shops opened in Bellevue, Washington, and in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market a year later. In 1991, the company was renamed "Seattle's Best Coffee" after winning a local competition. One of the highest volume coffee shops in the 1990s was the Seattle's Best Coffee on 4th and Pine at the Westlake Center in Seattle. A manager was hired, Kim Whittle, and within 3 years she took that location from $700,000 to $1.3 million. The sales were not espresso machines or even bulk beans, 85% of the sales were in cups (drip, lattes, mochas, Italian sodas and Americanos). This location was rumored to be one of the highest volume coffee shops in the world. Around 1995, Seattle's Best Coffee was purchased by a group of investors who own Torrefazione Italia. They formed a new company made up of both parties called Seattle Coffee Holdings. In 1997, Seattle Coffee Holdings changed its name to Seattle Coffee Company.
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