Southern California Company Expands Stores Internationally to 19 Countries
LOS ANGELES (Dec. 15, 2008) – The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, the oldest and largest privately-held chain of specialty coffee and tea stores in the United States, announces it has surpassed the 700-store milestone with the Oct. 28 opening of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® store at Gangnam Station in Seoul, Korea. Today the company operates 712 stores in 20 countries.
“The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® flourished in the U.S. because we provide the highest quality coffee and tea beverages to our consumers,” said Mel Elias, president of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®. “In the late ‘90s, we realized that there was a global audience for great tasting beverages. Our company took major steps to create a franchise program that turned out to be an instrumental force in spearheading our double-digit international growth over the past decade.”
To date, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® owns 279 stores both domestically and internationally. The company also oversees operations for 433 franchise-owned locations. In 2008 the company opened its first stores in Beijing, China, as well as India, Mexico, and Vietnam.
“Our success domestically and internationally thrives upon our immersion and understanding of the local communities,” said Victor Sassoon, CEO of Asia Pacific. “Whereas Americans might favor lattes and Ice Blended® beverages, our international locations favor more tea- and berry-based beverages. The adaptation of our business model to accommodate local palettes and cuisine has contributed to the rapid expansion of our international franchise locations.”
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® expects to continue to grow its franchise program both domestically and internationally in 2009, with a focus on store openings in Mexico and Vietnam, where the company is posting extremely strong sales.
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