Caribou Coffee announced Monday it will close 80 store locations next week.
The coffee chain, based in Minneapolis, Minn., will also convert 88 other store locations to Peet’s Coffee and Tea shops over the next 18 months.
The closings are part of a revamped business strategy to benefit the company’s long-term growth.
The 80 stores set to close have been identified as “underperforming.”
In southeastern Wisconsin, Caribou will close its doors by April 14 at its Bayshore Town Center location along with two stores in Brookfield and a store in Mount Pleasant.
Caribou’s locations in Wauwatosa and Waukesha are among those to become Peet’s Coffee and Tea, a chain established in 1966.
The company changes stem from a corporate acquisition of Caribou by Joh. A. Benckiser Group (JAB) in December 2012. The same company acquired Peet’s Coffee and Tea in October of last year.
Other states impacted by the closings include Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois and Washington.
The chain will continue running 468 locations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Colorado, western Wisconsin and 10 international markets.
Store managers at Caribou Coffee locations in Brookfield, Mount Pleasant and at Bayshore Town Center declined to comment on the closings.
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