Tully's Coffee
Gone in the US. The last cafés closed in 2018, and a court settlement that September barred any Tully's-named coffee chain. Tully's bagged coffee and K-Cups are still sold by Keurig, and a separately run Tully's chain has hundreds of cafés in Japan.
Last verified Nov 9, 2026
Seattle's other coffee chain, started in 1992 by a real-estate developer who had leased storefronts to Starbucks. It reached about 300 shops and then spent a decade being sold, rescued and sold again.
Filed under: Drinks & Sodas · the ’90s
📅 Timeline
- 1992Tom "Tully" O'Keefe opened the first Tully's in the Seattle area.
- 2004Tully's had 305 company and licensed locations, against Starbucks' 9,000.
- 2008Tully's sold its wholesale business and the brand to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, licensing the name back for its cafés.
- 2012The cafe company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.
- 2013Patrick Dempsey's Global Baristas won the auction for the chain in January.
- 2018The remaining cafés closed in March after running out of coffee, and a September settlement ended the chain's right to the name.
❓ People also ask
Does Tully's Coffee still exist?
Not as a US coffee chain; the last cafés closed in 2018. Keurig Dr Pepper still sells Tully's coffee in K-Cups and bags, and Tully's Coffee Japan runs its own cafés.
Did Patrick Dempsey own Tully's?
Yes. His company, Global Baristas, bought the bankrupt chain in 2013. It collapsed in 2018.
🧾 Sources
- The Seattle Times, Tully's Coffee: A brand that belies its size (2005)
- FOX 13 Seattle, Tully's stores run out of coffee as rebranding looms (2018)
- West Seattle Blog, Followup: Tully's Coffee facing evictions week and a half after sudden Alki shutdown (2018)
- Wikipedia, Tully's Coffee (2026)