For years, Renee Kappes was living her dream. Starting with just one coffee cart and selling Seattle's Best Coffee in 1991, she moved her way up in the mid-1990s to the point that she owned two successful SBC franchise coffee shops, one in Bridle Trails and one in downtown Kirkland.
But Kappes, whose corner shop on Park Lane and Lake Street is now named realitycoffee.com, is getting out of the business now because, she alleges, there were underhanded franchise dealings - first with SBC and then Starbucks, which bought out SBC almost four years ago.
"That's when it got really bad," Kappes said.
In 2003, Kappes said, she'd found a buyer for both the Bridle Trails and Kirkland coffee shops. "They were sold," she remembers with some bitterness. "The guy was ready to go."
But the sale didn't go through. Instead, Kappes got a taste of just how brutal corporate coffee wars can get. Starbucks, she explained, had first right of refusal, and the company wasn't interested in cooperating with the franchise sale. "Basically they said no. They weren't going to continue the franchise."
Starbucks offered half
And adding insult to injury, Kappes said, is that Starbucks turned around and offered her half the market value for the two coffee shops. "I said no."
On top of everything else, she said, Starbucks insisted she redecorate both stores and buy new equipment during the last two years of her franchise agreement.
In fact, Kappes alleges, Starbucks threatened to cancel the franchise agreements if she didn't make the improvements. So Kappes made the improvements, which included buying two new espresso machines, painting the places and refinishing floors and tables, she said.
She'd also found a new buyer for the two shops last year, but Starbucks went behind her back and set up lease agreements with both her landlords, Kappes fumed.
The first shop to be affected by the development was the one in Bridle Trails. "The landlord said he was going with Starbucks, and I had to leave," she said of a development that forced her out last September. "They didn't pay me anything."
The coffee giant did allow her to keep some of the equipment and furnishings, though. "I sold some of the stuff from Bridle Trails, some of it is in my garage, and I brought a table to the Kirkland store," Kappes said.
Now the same thing is happening at her remaining location. The landlord has signed a lease with Starbucks, and Kappes has to go. "I have to move out of Kirkland by Oct. 31," she said.
A call to the media-relations department at Starbucks wasn't returned as of press deadline for the Courier. However, Kappes knows what the response would likely be because one of Seattle's daily newspapers was working on a story about her situation last year.
The story never ran after a Starbucks' attorney denied her allegations about unfair treatment. But Kappes said she has documentation about everything. "I had all the I's dotted and the T's crossed," is how she put it.
Incurred huge debt
Meanwhile. Kappes said, she's spent big bucks in attorney's fees, she's more than $100,000 in debt, her savings are gone, and she's had to get roommates so she won't lose her house.
"I'm past the madness about it, but the debt has really devastated me," Kappes said. "I never had a clue that this would happen."
The businesswoman denies that she's trying to "screw" Starbucks by talking to the media. "I just want somebody to know these things really happen."
Kappes plans to get a regular job so she can pay off her debt and get on with her life. Asked if she would ever consider buying another business, Kappes was adamant. "My franchise days are over," she said. "Over!"
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or (206) 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
