Tully's is Seattle's "third way" coffee chain. Where
Starbucks and
Seattle's Best Coffee are about high volumes,
latte 'em up, and ship 'em out, Tully's tries to create "
atmosphere". It's an
oasis. A coffee oasis. See? Tables which are too small to spread out a newspaper on are generally frowned upon at Tully's. Couches and other assorted
comfy chairs are preferred. Everything is organized around a
natural gas fireplace and several coffee tables are loaded with board games like
backgammon,
Trivial Pursuit, and
Parcheesi. You'll find lots of electric sockets around to plug in laptops. In several stores you can find phone jacks so you can dial your local ISP via modem. It's all about being
cozy. Too cozy one ponders at times. What's the motivation to finish your $2 beverage and
leave? How much longer before Tully's starts adding shower facilities? The world waits for an answer.
You can find Tully's clustered around the
Pacific Northwest (Washington,
Oregon, the Bay area and more-or-less-Idaho).
Tully's was founding in 1992 by Tom Tully O'Keefe (hence the name). In only a decade, Tully's has grown to America's third largest specialty coffee chain. It's recently expanded to Asia and
Sweden. Tom Tully O'Keefe had been in the real estate business and did not take much notice of the coffee industry until 1991 when Starbucks approached him to
rent space in one of his shopping centers. After doing some due
diligence, he realized Starbucks had little competition in its market segment and he set out to go
head to head with the
antichrist itself. And Tully's does go head to head with Starbucks. It purposely opens stores near competing Starbucks, hoping to steal customers away with its more relaxed
environs.
In 1999 Tully's took over Seattle's landmark
Rainier Brewery plant along the southern portion of the
I5. The brewery was considered a landmark because, against the gritty backdrop of docks and rusting cargo ships, the brewery dared to defiantly raise a twelve-foot tall
neon red R atop its tallest grain
silo. People loved their scarlet R. When Tully's moved in, many wondered what would become of the Giant Red R? Tully's wisely relocated the Red R to the
University of Washington's
Museum of History and Industry. In its place, they raised a giant neon green T,
placating those who need to see an electrically lit keyboard character as they get their ass outta
Seattle.