Hard times for Peet’s coffee revolution
Your morning catch up: Peet’s coffee says goodbye to some, L.A. museums and cultural hubs go dark in solidarity with anti-ICE ‘National Shutdown’ protests, and more big stories
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SAN FRANCISCO — Do you remember a time before carmel vanilla lattes? Before coffee presses and pour overs? Before grinding your own beans?
I do. I grew up watching my parents pour hot water over Taster’s Choice (instant) coffee crystals or, in a truly exotic gambit, brew Yuban in a percolator. It might not have tasted great, but it was simple, fast and cheap.
I thought of those times Friday as I visited the San Francisco Bay Area, epicenter of a coffee revolution in California and America. It was here on a corner in leafy north Berkeley that Dutch immigrant Alfred Henry Peet opened Peet’s Coffee, Tea & Spices, offering finely curated and freshly brewed coffee — and the raw materials to re-create the same at home.
Peet opened his original location in 1966, inspiring folks up the road in Seattle to open the first Starbucks several years later. Thus the coffee gods created a world of more discerning (some might say finicky) coffee connoisseurs, one where people now pay $5, $6 and more for a cup of liquid get-up-and-go.
That history came to mind Friday, as an estimated 27 of Peet’s 283 locations closed their doors as part of what the new corporate owners (Keurig Dr Pepper bought the chain last August, a deal scheduled to close in the first half of this year) call a “challenging environment” (aka, high coffee bean prices.) The original location on the corner of Vine and Walnut streets in Berkeley remains open.
A spot where everyone knows your name
It felt more like a betrayal, or a wake, to the Peet’s regulars I visited with Friday morning in the Castro District and in Berkeley. Many came for the final day at their favorite locations, telling how they would miss a place where (apologies to TV’s “Cheers”) everyone knew their names.
When I stepped into the Castro Peet’s, on Market Street, just after 10 a.m., a group of five who have been gathering there for more than two decades were handing their favorite barista, Evelyn, a cash donation and a farewell card.
“I feel like the coffee is secondary to the experience of coming here for so many years, to have this community,” said Mark Lambert, a retired consultant. “There are a lot of other groups here too. I had people on the street come up to me almost in tears, saying ‘Did you hear the news that it’s closing?’ “
Adrienne Ferrari, a San Francisco native, called the shutdown “a stunning loss for the Castro,” adding: “People came here daily. Especially for people who don’t have family, a coffee shop takes up a lot of that same space. It’s a routine, a place for the low-level exchanges we all need that help us get through the day.”
Ferrari said Peet’s also represented Northern California’s striving for elevated dining experiences, epitomized by Berkeley’s “gourmet ghetto.” “Whether its Chez Pannise, or Peet’s or Acme Bread, it became part of our value system in this region, a reaching for excellence,” Ferrari said. “It became like a gold mine here.”
Frank Reyes, a hairstylist in the Castro, counted himself among the many regulars who appreciated the way the baristas always remembered his order. “A mocha, with Dutch, unsweetened powder, 2% milk, no foam, no whip, extra shot,” he said. “They got it, every time.
“They knew my name. I knew theirs. I will miss the community so much.”
Workers at a unionized Peet’s on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley said they plan to challenge the closure, saying management did not meet its “legal obligation to bargain over the impacts of this closure.”
Mr. Peet was more about tea than coffee
Many no doubt wonder how Mr. Peet would view what’s become of his baby. Michael Phillips, part of the Castro klatch with Lambert, said he wasn’t sure about that. But Phillips remembered meeting the founder shortly after the Berkeley Peet’s opened. They shared a few meals, along with a larger group that included Phillips’ wife, Sonie Richardson, who recalled the coffee emigre, a German labor camp survivor who died in 2007, as “very quiet, very mild.”
And Phillips recalled something else about Mr. Peet. The entrepreneur said he opened a coffee business because he didn’t find good coffee in America. “But he also told us he didn’t really have any interest in coffee at all,” said Phillips, a retired businessman. “He was a tea broker. He said the coffee business took up 1% of his brain. The other 99% was involved with tea.”
The week’s biggest stories
ICE protests, arrests and attitudes
- L.A. museums and cultural hubs went dark in solidarity with anti-ICE ‘National Shutdown’ protests.
- Trust in ICE plummets, even when agents target serious criminals.
- Homeland Security ramps up surveillance in immigration raids, sweeping in citizens.
More on the Colby Mountain Fire Lookout tower
- Yesterday morning, we shared the story of the Colby Mountain Fire Lookout. Kenny Jordan had manned the tower 41 years when the U.S. Forest Service told him they wouldn’t need him back next summer.
- The fate of the lookout became murkier Friday afternoon, when a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson said plans for the outpost remained undecided.
Trump administration policies and reactions
- Trump’s choice of Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve could reshape the world’s most influential central bank.
- Justice Department says it’s releasing 3 million pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- Health official Dr. Oz travels to L.A. seeking fraud. Newsom says his findings are ‘baseless and racist allegations.’
Media and entertainment news
- Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Friday in Beverly Hills. Was it an attack on the 1st Amendment?
- Writers Guild of America’s staff union authorized a strike via 82% vote, weeks before major negotiations.
- After Warner defeat, Comcast loads up on Winter Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA.
Crime and courts
- Corruption case against L.A. Councilmember Curren Price can move to trial.
- Loose cannabis is like spilled beer, not open container in car, state Supreme Court rules.
- Law firm’s contract hiked to nearly $7.5 million by City Council in L.A. homelessness case.
What else is going on
- California waits for a star to emerge in the 2026 race for governor.
- The L.A. city shelter said the pit bull was sweet. It mauled his new owner.
- Skier Lindsey Vonn injures knee in downhill crash a week before Games: ‘My Olympic dream is not over.’
- Add Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas to the list of those unable to play in the World Baseball Classic.
- How ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ unlocked Netflix’s Grammy possibilities.
Must reads
The U.S. Space Force is seeking to expand the number of launches and attract aerospace companies in and around Vandenberg Space Force Base, where SpaceX launches already have riled up residents, state officials and environmentalists.
Other meaty reads
- A Melrose Avenue shop finds success in influencers’ overflowing closets as Gen Z turns to thrift shopping.
- Copper thefts turned these upscale L.A. streets pitch dark. Frustrated residents are fighting back.
- Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills is on track for fall completion despite appearances.
- Opinion: L.A. is ripping up 1,600 acres of pavement — but is it too little, too late?
- Opinion: Los Angeles is sabotaging itself on housing.
For your downtime
Going out
- Sky trip: ‘No lines and big, wide-open runs’: The woodsy ski town of June Lake is like Mammoth without the crowds.
- Cozy dish: A modern Mexican supernova becomes the Culver City neighborhood restaurant L.A. needs.
- Film Review: Charli XCX’s self-teasing mockumentary ‘The Moment’ fends off an endless Brat summer.
Staying in
- Television Review: ‘Bridgerton’ boss unpacks this season’s red-flag proposal, plus this week’s streaming recs.
- Picking out a good book: 20 books we can’t wait to read in 2026.
- 🥗 Here’s a recipe for easy sauteed greens that go with everything.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
L.A. Timeless
A selection of the very best reads from The Times’ 143-year archive.
“King of the kazoos,” is not the most important story the Los Angeles Times has ever published, but it might just be the funniest. The late, great Al Martinez wrote about kazoo salesman Albert Broder several times over his career, but this 1986 column is a classic. The Times is republishing it as part of L.A. Timeless, a selection of some of the best work from our archive.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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