“The best part of waking up is Peet’s in your cup!” Wait, hold up that doesn’t sound right. Great, now those Peetniks (a gung-ho Peet’s Coffee & Tea enthusiast) will have my behind for that because unlike Folgers, Peet’s Coffee is known for its dark-roasted cup-of-joe and is considered to be notches above that Folgers-mess (said the Peetnik).

The Berkeley, CA originated specialty coffee roaster and retailer Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc who is also considered to be Starbuck’s direct competitor, even though the market share in regards to Starbuck’s dominant sales in 2007 is so resounding you can buy over 4000 tons of Peet’s Coffee & Tea’s signature beans with the difference. Even so, in the face of a faltering economy, Starbucks is finding itself downsizing, closing 600 under-performing stores nationwide whilst Peet’s Coffee & Tea is planning to open 25 store-fronts and expanding heavily in the east-coast.

Peet’s who just has 180 company-operated stores nationwide, compared with Starbucks who has built a store nearly in every corner of every city, suburb, metropolitan area, or anywhere resembling those has 7,100 stores (built much?), is happy to say, “We’re a coffee company that happens to have retail stores, not a retailer that has coffee.” Peet’s has always focused its main operation as a coffee and tea retailer (they earn 72% of profits through retailing), selling its brand to grocery outlets cross-country. And going forth, their main objective will help increase their sales because they figure with current economic trends people are savoring their cash-money for necessities like groceries and gas and less on lavish $4 cups-of-joe.

With Peet’s plan on expanding their grocery market share, they expect to double their share by 2012, which they predict will be a sales growth to $140 million from 2007’s grocery sales of $42 million. So from this angle, CEO Patrick O’dea is sitting pretty… great plan in tow while Starbucks is continually showing declining sales numbers and stock value (with no known great plan in tow). Until consumers stop feeling a tight clamp on their wallets, Starbucks may need to close even more retail outlets, bringing a stark realization for themselves that sometimes more is not better.

-this is your #1 FM Popp(News) Agent TS Donnely.