Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Suddenly Closes All 12 Manhattan Locations

Specialty coffee chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf abruptly closed all of its Manhattan locations last week. West Side Rag reports that the LA-based company decided to shut down operations at all of the 12 locations in New York last Saturday, October 1. The outposts were all franchises, not company-owned. A spokesman told the Upper West Side blog that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf would be reopening stores in New York with new owners, though it’s not clear when it will happen or if its at the same locations. Signs on some stores only note that they’re "temporarily closed for remodeling."

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has been around since 1963 and has more than 1,000 locations globally. It reportedly brought in $500 million last year. It’s not the first chain to suddenly close all of its New York stores at once. Last year, juice chain Organic Avenue shuttered all of its outpost at once, only to have the founder reopen a few locations shortly after. And in 2014, Australian pie cafe Pie Face ended operations of six locations all at once. It has yet to revive in the city.

• COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF CLOSES ALL NEW YORK STORES, INCLUDING 3 ON UWS [West Side Rag]
• All Coverage of Closings [ENY]