Almost a side note in my RSS reader this morning was a post from Troy about an old employer of mine. Apparently several months ago, Starbucks bought Coffee People. I worked for Coffee People between July of 1998 and June of 2000, so I lived through the sale to Diedrich and experienced the backlash of Diedrich thinking it could re-brand the Portland company as "Diedrich Coffee People." AS a former employee and someone who once received a very high compliment from Jim Roberts (founder and former owner of Coffee People) on my barista skills, it truly is a sad day, though inevitable once the company was sold to Gloria Jean's back. The sale to Starbucks apparently didn't include the airport locations because they are independent franchises, so if travel takes you to Portland you can still get a great cup of Joe in the terminal. And an FYI, I worked at the Tanasbourne store for several months before transferring to the Tigard/King City store...though I put in hours at several other locations. Someday, perhaps, I will write an in depth post titled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned While Making Your Coffee," because a lot of principles I still apply to business and personal life were learned in my time at Coffee People.Hey Troy, remember that time when I saved your life at a Weezer show? That was cool.
