Caribou to enter Target Field Interchange

Target Field Station will not only serve as a transportation hub for Minnesota Twins fans heading to the ball game, but it will also serve up a coffee as Caribou Coffee announced that they would be opening a 2,400-square-foot shop in the middle of the Interchange project.

Already the primary supplier of coffee to the MLB franchise, the move will allow the company to effectively triple hit Twins supporters with Caribou’s Vice President of Marketing Michele Vig calling the location “a perfect fit for Caribou.”

The citizens of Minneapolis should be familiar with Caribou given that the company has its roots and head office in the Twin City – the agreement between sports franchise and local beverage company is one of many with Dunkin’ Donuts’ link with Boston-based teams perhaps the most prominent.

It is believed that Caribou are aiming to have the store open and operational in time for the MLB All-Star game which will be hosted at Target Field in July; the station itself is scheduled to have its grand unveiling later this week.

The move is one of 27 expected store openings to occur within the calendar year. It is reported that nine will be company owned – one of which will be the new Target Field site – whilst the remaining stores will be franchised. It also represents a wider shift which will hopefully see the company revert to pre-2012 store levels.

Towards the tail-end of 2012 the German based holding company Joh. A. Benckiser purchased Caribou Coffee and a number of months later a round of store closures followed that resulted in a rather public PR backlash. To compound the anger felt at the time, around eighty-eight Caribou stores were converted into Peet’s Coffee & Tea who also fell under the umbrella of the Joh. A. Benckiser group.

Currently Caribou has 573 operation stores located across America and earlier on this year announced a complete remodelling plan to their company owned outlets

photo: resedabear (wikicommons)