JCPenney's Plan To Sell Caribou Coffee In Its Stores Is Dead

Caribou CEO Mike Tattersfield told Bloomberg that his company “does not have plans to move forward with a partnership at this time."

Why didn't the partnership work out?

Tattersfield declined to comment to Bloomberg, while JCPenney and Caribou didn't immediately respond to our requests for comment.

But a JCPenney insider with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity, shed some light on what happened.

Back in February, JCPenney announced internally that Caribou Coffee would not be offered in stores, and that it was searching for a vendor that would "offer more options in food and beverage," according to the insider.

"No word yet on who will replace them," he added.

JCPenney first talked about adding Caribou cafes in its stores back in September while showing analysts and investors around a prototype store which included a Caribou stand.

The department store was planning to add coffee and juice bars in place of cash registers, which are being eliminated entirely in favor of mobile and self checkout.