The top four national coffee shop chains, according to their national sales numbers, are Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Tim Horton's and lastly Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. And of course we all know them well! If my research is correct Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has a total of 213 locations, Tim Horton's has 292 locations, Caribou Coffee with a total of 322 locations, and of course Starbucks - are you sitting down? - with a total 8,000 U.S. locations! Wow!

Starbucks is truly the big player in the retail coffee industry and even has Seattle's Best, which has 160 U.S. locations, as part of their corporate family of retail coffee shops not counted in the above 8,000 number. Seattle's Best coffee shops are very similar to Starbucks but have a different color scheme and quite often are located in different neighborhoods than the many Starbucks locations. One has to wonder if it is not the very same coffee just packaged differently. The next largest group of retail coffee shops not part of the above mentioned top four are Coffee Beanery, Port City Java, Dunn Brothers Coffee, and lastly Peet's Coffee. Of course each area of the country has one or three regional retail coffee establishments that hold the loyalty of the area residents.

The first Starbucks was opened in 1971. When Starbucks first opened their doors they were but a mere single coffee shop selling some darn good coffee that was freshly roasted from whole coffee beans. The location of this first Starbucks coffee shop was Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. If you were to ask a Starbucks employee what their company mission is here is the answer you will likely receive: to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. With over 15,000 retail coffee shops in 50 countries worldwide it would not be difficult to find the nearest coffee shop with the Starbucks name on the door a short drive from your home or office. And if that was not enough, Starbucks also happens to be the world's leading coffee roaster as well as retailer of premium specialty coffee.

Caribou Coffee has coffee shops located in 15 states in the United States, but they are mostly accumulated in the eastern and mid-west parts of the country. Caribou Coffee first open their doors in 1990 which makes them almost 21 years old as a company. They say they do not talk about their mission or vision because that is just corporate talk. Instead, they prefer to "share an extraordinary experience that feeds the soul".

Some what different than Starbucks Tim Horton's offers coffee and donuts to their patrons and has locations throughout the United States and Canada. Of course we Americans love our donuts with our coffee - don't we?! Of course we do! Very few companies make it beyond the five-year anniversary mark, but Tim Horton's has been serving premium coffee since 1964. The employees of Tim Horton's constantly focus on top quality premium coffee and offering daily fresh products that their loyal customers have come to expect.

With a focus on selling coffee products, premium coffee drinks and rare teas coffee bean and tea leaf is a family company that is growing and expanding to become a direct competitor with Starbucks. Founded in 1963 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a company that is almost 50 years old. Furthermore, they are dedicated to serving their community and providing a destination and lifestyle quality experience.

Each of the above mentioned coffee retailers share one thing in common - passion for excellent coffee! Whether it be Starbucks or Tim Horton's you will always get a consistent high quality product with each visit. Whether Starbucks is your favorite coffeeshop retailer or Tim Horton's you cannot go wrong by visiting either of these coffee shops in your pursuit of the perfect cup of coffee. I am fairly certain one of the above mentioned four coffee shop retailers will be just around the corner from your home or office. When tasting your first sip of the premium coffee you just ordered from one of the above coffee shops think about the history of that particular business and savor all that went into making that perfect cup of coffee!