Dr McDreamy Buys Tully's

We posted a press release a few weeks ago that seemed too good funny schadenfreude to be true: Baristas Coffee Company, a chain of bikini barista-type coffee shops had made an offer to acquire Tully’s Coffee, after Tully’s declared bankruptcy last fall. Despite the fun we would have gossiping about the implementation of the Baristas business model at, say, the 9th and Broadway Tully’s, as our friends over at Curbed point out, it’s likely this was more of a publicity stunt than a legitimate bid.

Nevertheless, the addition of Baristas to the list of bidders for Tully’s made for an interesting line-up at yesterday’s auction. When the dust settled at the end of the bidding battle, the winner was an investment group including Patrick Dempsey (Dr. McDreamy of Grey’s Anatomy fame), beating out the competition, including Baristas and a little coffee company you may have heard of called Starbucks.

According to the Seattle Times, Starbucks was only bidding on about half of the 47 Tully’s stores, but Dempsey’s group will acquire the entire company, including 500 employees, franchise rights, and significant debt. The bids still have to be okayed by a bankruptcy court judge, but the deal could be finalized as early as the end of the month.

We know at least a couple of you frequent your local Tully’s; any requests of the new ownership?