Chicago Entrepreneur and Mall Espresso Icon Gloria Jean Kvetco Has DiedDaily Espresso Information by way of Roast Mag

Gloria Jean Kvetko on the 2021 grand opening of a Gloria Jean’s Espresso Chicago headquarters. RFG press photograph.

Gloria Jean Kvetko, the Chicagoland entrepreneur who based Gloria Jean’s Espresso in 1979, died on June 14 on the age of 82.

Born in Chicago in 1941, Kvetko’s first entrepreneurial challenge used to be a good looks store referred to as Gloria’s Studio One in Wheeling, Illinois. In 1979, Kvetko bought an present espresso store in ancient downtown Lengthy Grove, Illinois, and named it Gloria Jean’s Espresso Bean.

Via the mid Nineteen Eighties, Kvetko expanded Gloria Jean’s to buying groceries facilities national, offering conventional drip espresso and espresso-based choices with an unapologetic menu of sweetened mixed iced beverages and very flavored coffees.

Competing with different swiftly increasing U.S. competitors reminiscent of Starbucks, Peet’s and The Espresso Bean and Tea Leaf, Gloria Jean’s relied upon a franchise style, sooner or later increasing to greater than 220 retail outlets during the U.S. underneath Kvetko’s watch.

Nonetheless in her early 50s, Kvetko offered Gloria Jean’s in 1993, and the emblem has since modified possession a large number of occasions, increasing to roughly 900 places international nowadays. The emblem is these days owned by way of Australia-based Retail Meals Team (RFG).

3 years in the past, Kvetko joined Retail Meals Team to re-establish a Chicago headquarters for the emblem with a watch in opposition to further franchising. On that instance, she recalled Gloria Jean’s affect within the synthetic flavoring of roasted coffees.

“Hazelnut — it used to be like finding God,” Kvetko informed visitors at a grand opening release. “After I informed my husband we’re placing flavored coffees at the shelf, he simply went nuts – “no!” — and I mentioned, ‘too unhealthy, you lose, doing it.’ And that modified the espresso global instantly.”

An obituary within the Chicago Tribune recalls Kvetko as “the lifetime of the birthday party” with an “infectious smile, welcoming demeanor, zest for existence and unwavering willingness to lend a hand others.”

Feedback? Questions? Information to percentage? Touch DCN’s editors right here.