Diedrich Coffee Company

Longtime Orange County fixture Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Thursday that it would sell its company-owned stores to Starbucks Corp. to focus on wholesaling coffee to restaurant chains, specialty stores and offices. The Irvine-based company will get $13.5 million for 40 Diedrich and Coffee People cafes. Most of the Diedrich outlets are in Orange and Los Angeles counties, and the Coffee People stores are in the Portland, Ore., area.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., which recently agreed to sell its company-owned stores to Starbucks, said its loss for the fiscal fourth quarter widened, in part because of costs related to boosting its wholesale operations. The loss for the quarter ended June 28 widened to $3.1 million, or 59 cents a share, from $1 million, or 20 cents, a year ago. Results from a year earlier were helped by a tax benefit of $1.9 million. Revenue rose to $18.3 million from $16.

Diedrich Coffee Inc.: The Irvine coffee retailer and wholesaler said it lost $745,625, or 13 cents a share, for the first quarter ended April 29, compared with a net loss of $5.4 million, or $1 a share, for the first quarter of the prior year. Sales were unchanged at $5.9 million, with eight fewer coffeehouses in operation and six additional coffee carts in operation. Sales at stores open at least a year increased 2%.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Tuesday that a financing company will provide $6.3 million in new capital to help relaunch its national expansion. Los Angeles-based Franchise Mortgage Acceptance Corp., which provides financing for restaurant chains and other companies, paid $1.3 million for 200,000 Diedrich shares and agreed to loan the company up to $5 million. As part of the alliance, Franchise Mortgage also will provide mortgage financing to Diedrich franchisees.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. reported a $2.3-million fourth-quarter loss, its fifth straight losing quarter, but said Wednesday that improved operations at its coffee houses and a new financial partner have prepared it for a national expansion. The loss, about 42 cents per share, was double Diedrich's year-earlier loss of $1.1 million, or 21 cents per share. Quarterly revenue fell from $5.8 million a year earlier to $5.

Diedrich Coffee on Wednesday named Ann Wride, a finance veteran at several national restaurant chains, as its chief financial officer. Wride, 36, of Huntington Beach, was chief financial officer of the Coco's and Carrows chains, which are based in Irvine and owned by Advantica Restaurant Group Inc. of South Carolina. She joined Advantica in May 1996 from Irvine-based Family Restaurants Inc., which was selling Coco's and Carrows to Advantica for $313 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. unveiled Diedrich Chai, a tea drink, to sell at its coffee shops. The Irvine company said the beverage, served hot or iced, is a blend of black tea, honey, vanilla beans, ginger and other spices. Diedrich Coffee operates a coffeehouse and coffee cart chain in California, Colorado and Texas.

The Irvine office of Diedrich Coffee's "chief coffee officer" looks like the dorm room of an overenthusiastic World Cultures major. The couch has the rump-feel of a garage-sale bargain. A travel poster of a Mayan ruin hangs on one wall. A miniature hand-painted Costa Rican oxcart sits beside his desk.