St. Paul native Sarah Kevelin used to go to Caribou almost every day for coffee. Now, she goes there almost every day for coffee and breakfast. At first, Kevelin, 30, was a fan of the chicken apple sausage breakfast sandwich before recently switching to the turkey bacon and egg whites. “They’re a lot healthier and not greasy,” Kevelin said. “It’s pretty good if you’re looking for something quicker.” Kevelin and customers like her are, in fact, the key to Caribou’s long, slow turnaround.
A wave of new and improved food and beverage products has helped turn Caribou from a perennial money loser when current CEO Mike Tattersfield arrived in 2008 to a profitable company that is set on growth. It is regularly surprising Wall Street with better-than-expected financials, and the market is returning the favor, with its stock now trading at all-time highs.
“It’s really about what can you do at the store level, what you can do exceptionally well and what can the consumer be willing to give you credit for,” Tattersfield said.