EVERETT – It’s a place where everybody knows his name.
“Hey Dale,” bellows the server.
The Cheers of Boeing Co.’s Everett plant serves espresso, not beer. For Dale Fry, his brew of choice at the “Main Street” Tully’s is plain old drip coffee, and lots of it. Fry frequents the coffee shop, located just below his office, five to six times daily.
Tully’s Coffee operates four sites in the plant, opening its first six months ago. In its third month, the Main Street location pulled in the third highest sales of Tully’s stores nationwide. With only two stores open in the facility in July, Tully’s served more than 25,000 customers.
The Seattle-based coffee roaster does not disclose individual store sales, said Rob Martin, Tully’s vice president of merchandising.
However, “we couldn’t be more happy with the way things are going,” Martin said.
Some of Tully’s success at Boeing is due to loyal customers like Fry. Before Tully’s moved into the plant, Fry had to brew his own coffee in his office.
“We made our own – it was good GI coffee,” he said, smiling.
Bringing in Tully’s fits into Boeing’s “Future Factory” plan, meant to update and improve the work environment at the facility. The plan includes remodeling of two factory cafeterias, building conference rooms aimed at increasing collaboration and adding a variety of services – video rental, dry cleaning, banking – for employees.
Having a Tully’s around makes Boeing project analyst Rodney Walter’s day a little easier. He no longer has to bring a Thermos or stop to pick up a cup of joe on the way to work. Like Fry, Walter started out buying regular coffee, treating himself occasionally to a caramel macchiato. From there, he’s added in the Oreo shake to his beverage rotation.
Guy Middleton wishes that Tully’s would open yet another location near his workstation in the plant. As it is, Middleton gets over to the coffee shop about every other week. To make do until he can get his next Tully’s fix, Middleton drinks the coffee served in the cafeteria nearest him.
“Cafeteria coffee is not as good,” Middleton said. “It’s Starbucks.”
Middleton could get his wish someday. Tully’s Martin says his company would open more espresso shops should Boeing show interest.
“We’re standing at the ready,” he said.
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