Peet’s Offers Change from Usual Grind on Starbucks’ Home Turf

Forget the Starbucks on the corner. Ignore the coffeehouse across the street and the espresso drive-through a block away.

Seattle needs another coffee chain. Really.

At least that’s the story from Emeryville, Calif.-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea, which will open its first Seattle coffeehouse in June in the Fremont neighborhood -- a nervy move into the home turf of resident caffeine king Starbucks Corp.

“Seattle is a place where people know good coffee and certainly appreciate it,” said Patrick O’Dea, Peet’s president and chief executive. “We wouldn’t view it as a limited sort of pie.”

This city, referred to by some as “latteland,” already is home to several chains, including Starbucks, Tully’s Coffee and Seattle’s Best Coffee. Then there’s the long list of independents.

Isn’t the market over-saturated?

“That question has yet to be answered,” said Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the Specialty Coffee Assn. of America in Long Beach. “We have yet to see what saturation means for quality espresso in Seattle.”

Starbucks barely acknowledged the news of Peet’s entry into Seattle.

“We just don’t really comment on the competition,” said Starbucks spokeswoman Lara Wyss.

The two companies have common roots. The founders of Starbucks learned their dark-roasting coffee techniques from Alfred Peet, the founder of Peet’s, both companies said.

Founded in 1966, Peet’s has 65 stores in California, Oregon, Illinois and Massachusetts. It plans to open six stores in 2003 in California, Oregon and Washington.

Peet’s already operates espresso bars in the Seattle area at Larry’s Markets upscale grocery stores and sells beans through Albertson’s and Safeway grocery stores.

O’Dea, Peet’s president, credited Starbucks for introducing people to the idea of specialty coffee. But he said his company’s coffee is distinctive.

“Every batch is done like a wine master making a great cask of wine,” he said.

Peet’s may expand with more Seattle-area stores, although it does not have a specific plan, he said.

It may seem a sacrilege to drink a California coffee over Seattle Starbucks, but not to some locals, who happily greeted the news of Peet’s impending opening.

“Starbucks is everywhere,” said Julianne Bryant, a Seattle resident who works in the Fremont neighborhood. “Seattle’s inundated with [Starbucks].... There’s something nice about a little different place.”

The more the merrier, said Tony Gioia, president and CEO of Tully’s Coffee Corp.

“We’ll see if they can play in our backyard,” he said.