Peet's Coffee is moving in next door to CVS.

[ChefJayTay]

[Damage]

Remember how Sonoma “use to be”, and what is is like now? They are trying to get the tourist to get the money but turning this town into crap!

[Damage]

We’ve got some nice “local” hole-in-the-wall coffee shops already. Do we need a Peet’s?

[Roland Jacopetti]

When I worked for the Ski Hut in Berkeley in the mid-sixties, my boss, Alfred Smith, came to work one morning and told me that a new coffee shop had just opened over on northside and let's go have a cup. So we did. This coffee paradise was called Peet's and it was run by Mr. Peet, a very serious Dutch fellow.

So I claim to be one of the first customers of the first Peet's, and I'm here to say that I am completely against a Pete's Coffee being anywhere near a CVS. I also acknowledge, and I believe I'm not the only person to do so, that I have sworn a permanent and complete boycott of any and all huge hulking quasi-drugstores that bear the initials C...V...S!!!

Hey, Berkeley! I miss you guys. I've lived in Sonoma County for 46 years, and I still miss Berkeley (and also miss San Francisco, where I was born and lived for the first 26 years of my life.I drive past the Sebastopol CVS several times a week, and try not to even look at it. Go inside? Buy something? I don't think so.

Roland

[photolite]

I find it astounding that some people are still so focused on the harm that the new CVS would do (virtually nothing re traffic congestion) while still giving a great big pass to the harm The Barlow has done to traffic and the downtown core. Unfuckingbelievable.

...I drive past the Sebastopol CVS several times a week, and try not to even look at it. Go inside? Buy something? I don't think so.

[Barry]

I find it astounding that some people are still so focused on the harm that the new CVS would do (virtually nothing re traffic congestion) while still giving a great big pass to the harm The Barlow has done to traffic and the downtown core. Unfuckingbelievable.

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I confess that CVS is not as bad as feared, thanks to our city council's design changes (thank's in particular to Councilmember John Eder in particular). I still resent CVS's strong-armed and deceitful dealings during the approval process, I'd say it's more of a missed opportunity than a disaster. Sure would have been nice to have one less national corporation in town.

[Barry]

photolite, were you here for the fight to stop the Barlow? It was not welcomed by many and many fought it. CVS and now Peet's are only the most recent of a series of defeats by opponents to growth in Sebastopol.

Were you born here, Dian?

Note that both The Barlow and the CVS project were within city limits. This is non-sprawl development city-centered development. Frankly, I think the North East Plan would have been a much more Sebastopol friendly development, rather than the more tourist oriented Barlow, which I don't find that bad either.

Growth is going to happen. The US population is growing. Sebastopol is a desirable place to live.

[biannoli]

Astounding, huh? The Barlow, CVS, they are a blight. CVS treats their employees poorly, as does Whole Foods. You get your opinion but there are many of us who still mourn the co-opting of our town.

I find it astounding that some people are still so focused on the harm that the new CVS would do (virtually nothing re traffic congestion) while still giving a great big pass to the harm The Barlow has done to traffic and the downtown core. Unfuckingbelievable.

[occihoff]

Slick, soulless, and sterile.

[photolite]

My opinion is that one does not deserve a pass while the other has been excoriated. I said nothing re the co-opting our town.

Astounding, huh? The Barlow, CVS, they are a blight. CVS treats their employees poorly, as does Whole Foods. You get your opinion but there are many of us who still mourn the co-opting of our town.

[photolite]

photolite, were you here for the fight to stop the Barlow? ...

I never saw any serious opposition to this project in the first place, unlike the CVS project. Results of both now tell a story that seemed obvious to me if one could free themselves from their closely held biases. I said as much on this site long before either came to pass

[ChefJayTay]

The sign now has removed (covered) Peet's name from the development. Guess it isn't happening now.

[KittyW]

Wow, just looking at all the venom directed at Peets -- basically a local Bay Area company that did very well business-wise and grew to expand to many locations. They were up against the Starbucks behemoth and didn't crumble. They make really good coffee. They treat their employees well and are generous with benefits. They are socially responsible, Fair Trade, assist farmers, and give back to communities What's the problem, folks? That they are successful? Good coffee and cafe culture are part of a good life.

[Damage]

Peet’s in now owned by JAB Holding Company out of Luxembourg Germany.
I just don’t really wanna see another building go up in the downtown area. It is already a pain with the traffic shift that Starbucks drive thru did onto Grav South. I know the drive thru was pre-existing but I never saw it that busy.

[Don Watanabe]

BTW Peets was sold to a German holding company many moons ago and is no longer the original Peets Coffee.

Wow, just looking at all the venom directed at Peets -- basically a local Bay Area company that did very well business-wise and grew to expand to many locations. They were up against the Starbucks behemoth and didn't crumble....

[shyama]

Confused. Is Peet's coming to town or not?

[ChefJayTay]

Confused. Is Peet's coming to town or not?

Frankly, so am I a bit.
The sign for a new development near CVS was originally posted (as seen in first post) with peet's logo on it. It has since been covered up.

[Willow]

McDonald's was very busy when it was there and oh so many people turned left illegally

Peet’s in now owned by JAB Holding Company out of Luxembourg Germany.
I just don’t really wanna see another building go up in the downtown area. It is already a pain with the traffic shift that Starbucks drive thru did onto Grav South. I know the drive thru was pre-existing but I never saw it that busy.

[ChefJayTay]

[gardenmaniac]

Gratitude? yeah, I'll show mine by adding Peet's to my boycott list ...

[Shandi]

Hope Starbucks is also on your list!

Gratitude? yeah, I'll show mine by adding Peet's to my boycott list ...

[jbox]

Hope Starbucks is also on your list!

Oh, gee, so what if Peet's hangs up a shingle next to CVS. Everybody gets soooo easily offended about damn near every little thing. Don't like it, don't shop there. Simple. Now go out and live your life and quit getting outraged over nothing.

[AJL]

so some sensitivity to some local businesses actually sending profits out of the country sends ire to the bb.
Maybe if Pete's puts indoor tennis courts behind the coffee shop they would be welcomed. The nearest locally owned coffee shop to that location is probably almost 100 yards in three or four different directions. And probably the hotel (locally owned?) will have a coffee shop as well.

Surprisingly, it sounds like Starbucks, based in Seattle, is now more local than Peet's...

[eddierosenthal]

My first Peets coffee was at Walnut Square in Berkeley probably around 1970. I had a lot of barista friends working there, and i would begin my 8 mile run there, up Spruce and around and thru the park, thru the eucalyptus trees and past the cows into Albany. My son worked there too. I hope young folk find work there, and i will have another place to enjoy coffee.

[shyama]

Peet's makes good coffee. Use your energy for better things like getting rid of CVS & Starbucks.

[heresbruce]

Seriously? People in the Republic of Sebastopol are upset about Peet's coffee coming in?? For the past 30 years I visited the original Peet's in Berkeley to buy coffee when in the area. My daughter worked at Peet's in Santa Rosa while attending high school where they trained her to be a barista, and again for Peet's while attending UC Santa Barbara. They were great employers for her and the other young people she worked with. We also frequently went to Taylor Made because it was local, started out in our Occidental neighborhood and we wanted to support them, plus they had decent coffee. What the heck are people's priorities???
This whole kerfuffle further convinces me that some of the folks in Sebastopol have their heads up their... well, you know... traffic originally suggested I avoid town, and this adds to that... like you care...
Bruce Schmidt

My first Peets coffee was at Walnut Square in Berkeley probably around 1970. I had a lot of barista friends working there, and i would begin my 8 mile run there, up Spruce and around and thru the park, thru the eucalyptus trees and past the cows into Albany. My son worked there too. I hope young folk find work there, and i will have another place to enjoy coffee.

[AJL]

https://looplink.natl.cbre.us/xNet/L...RID=0&IP=false

If you click on the brochure attached to the above link, you will see the Peet's lease is acknowledged and a second lease is pending and a third space is still available. Too small for an indoor tennis court...

[denise]

" were you here for the fight to stop the Barlow? It was not welcomed by many and many fought it. "

This is an interesting re-write of history. As I remember it, the huge fight was over what was then called the Northeast Plan, which would have zoned that area for denser development, including housing above retail. It was fought hard by the anti-growth forces, and the rezoning ultimately failed.

That left the area open to development based on the existing zoning, which is what allowed the Barlow. There was virtually no comment or opposition to the Barlow.

The Barlow is OK for what it is (basically a tourist mall) but not if you were looking for vibrant and intelligently managed growth of our community.

photolite, were you here for the fight to stop the Barlow? It was not welcomed by many and many fought it. CVS and now Peet's are only the most recent of a series of defeats by opponents to growth in Sebastopol. ...

[scamperwillow]

I don't recall any fight to stop the Barlow. As Denise says it matched the zoning and didn't need the same kind of changes as the Northeast Plan. And by the way, the Northeast PLAN was not a development but a general plan amendment to change the zoning of the area to allow housing and other uses. I was a sort of supporter of the plan - although it had a lot of flaws. But if approved, we might not have the terrible housing shortage we have now. Instead, we have a tourist trap. I actually like some of the places in the Barlow, but housing would have been much better.

[scamperwillow]

The NE plan was not from a developer. It was a specific plan for the general plan put forth by the city. Yes, the main landowner hoped to benefit from it. When the plan failed he decided to do something else with the land.

...The usual developer trick of asking for more than one could get and then being satisfied with "less", which was what was possible and to still make money.