Seattle's Best Coffee puts out call for franchisees

Melissa Allison The Seattle Times 02/09/2009 23:17

Kellea Williams, left, and Erin Morelli get their coffee to go Monday at the Seattle's Best Coffee in downtown Seattle. Known as SBC, the 550-shop chain owned by Starbucks since 2003 has put out the call for more franchisees.

Starbucks has never franchised, and it's not about to start. It wants stores controlled from Seattle's corporate office, either directly or through partnerships with big companies such as Safeway and Kroger.

Its lesser-known sibling, Seattle's Best Coffee, has other ideas.

Known as SBC, the chain had some franchises when Starbucks bought it in 2003. These days, about 480 of its 550 shops are inside Borders bookstores, but a few dozen are traditional franchises.

SBC has put out the call for more franchisees — people with franchising experience and preferably current ownership of other franchises.

Launching an SBC cafe or kiosk runs $191,000 to $521,500, including about $60,500 to $70,500 to SBC for franchising fees, inventory and marketing materials.

After that, SBC takes a 7 percent royalty, which is a little higher than most food companies, according to Kevin B. Murphy, a franchise attorney in San Francisco who helps people evaluate franchise opportunities and consults with companies that franchise.

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