This chain gobbled up the Spinelli's chain in the late 1990s. In more recent years, they've struggled going up against the big boys. So as a marketing differentiation strategy to help keep them relevant, by 2007 they pasted the "Fair Trade" label across their chests and anything with a surface. They even started dishing out the oxymoron of "green"/environmentally friendly paper cups. i.e., "We're Tully's - 30% less guilty than the leading brand." Thus they've created mixed feelings of benevolence and crass commercialism of ethical positioning.
Fortunately, they still have La Marzocco machines in many of their stores (unlike the "leading brand") and the quality is still generally better than the average chain -- despite these distractions.
Filed for bankruptcy protection in Oct. 2012 -- largely to renegotiate the leases on their retail locations.
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