Hundreds jam downtown Mpls. Caribou for free coffee, other goodies

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: November 13, 2009 - 3:28 PM

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There is a caffeine buzz of deafening proportions underway this morning in a Caribou coffee shop in downtown Minneapolis.

Free coffee -- including mocha and other specialty drinks -- and baked goods are being served today as part of the company's test run of a remodeling and revised menu, said manager Jenn Brown.

"It's kind of a chaotic zoo," said Brown, who estimates that about 400 patrons have been served since the store at 1116 Nicollet Av. S. opened at 7 a.m. Another 100 were waiting shortly after 10 a.m. for their freebies, she said.

"I had three sips of coffee, I opened the door and I haven't stopped since," she said.

The giveaway is part of "our test-run shift [of the shop's] reimaging," Brown said. "All of our regulars got an e-mail" about the handouts, but Brown said that anyone is invited to join in.

The same drill is being played out at the Caribou at 14444 Excelsior Blvd. in Minnetonka, said Valerie Crowley, spokeswoman for the Brooklyn Center-based operator of 525 outlets.

The shops will do the same Saturday, Crowley said, be closed Sunday and reopen Monday.

Among the menu enhancements: high-end Guittard Chocolate of San Francisco in drinks, oatmeal and baked-at-the-shop goods.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482