Tully's signs with Cometa for Wi-Fi: Cometa will build hot spots in Tully's Coffee stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. You wouldn't ask for something as crass as the number of locations covered by the deal; the number, 98, is hidden in the store backgrounder at the bottom. Cometa plans to install most locations within three months. Pricing and other details will be released in two weeks.
I could write all kinds of self-evident statements here, including, "How do you install 20,000 locations in two years when you're committed to installing a total of under 200 (McDonald's and Tully's) in nearly the first year of operation?" But I won't. (I'll leave that to you all in the comments section.)
Tully's is a reasonably well-known brand up here in the Northwest, but it's not the cachet that I'd be expecting Cometa to be launching their network with. First, McDonald's, a global brand with massive foot traffic and billions upon billions of dollars in revenue; next...Tully's?
It's just not the same level of brand, even if Tully's were the most revered Northwest coffee company. (It ain't. Torrefazione and Caffe Vita, a roaster/store and roaster come much closer.)
For Cometa to meet its brand challenge, and let me get all markety here, they need to score a 1,000-plus locations in a chain with international scope, and they need to do it soon: maybe by Feb. 2004, or they'll have lost the battle to sign premium brands.
Glenn - Can you post a link to the story? There's nothing on Cometa's site about this yet.
Thanks!