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Article: Hood River, Ore.-Based Coffee Company Wants to Keep Personal Touch.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- March 6, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Stu Watson, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 6--HOOD RIVER, Ore.--For the owners of Hood River Coffee Co., business is paradoxical.
They want to grow, but they want to stay small. They want to stay in close touch with customers, but they want more of them. They covet the cachet of exclusivity, but to establish that cachet, they need to be available.
Not on every corner, mind you, not the way Starbucks is. Just enough to spread an aura of rarity.
Such is the tricky calculus of a niche player in a consumer-products business trying to preserve a selective allure while boosting distribution.