Caribou Coffee is closing the Linden Hills location where founders John and Kim Puckett got their start in 1992, building what would become Minnesota’s largest coffee retailer. The company confirmed what a Colliers real estate listing revealed this week.

“The decision to close any location is never taken lightly, and is dependent on many factors,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “Caribou remains focused on meeting our guests where they are at, and like any retail business, that means adapting to changing traffic, experience, and economic patterns. We continue to invest in Edina.”

The original location, 4408 France Ave. S. in Edina, is smaller than most of the coffee company’s newer locations and landlocked in the middle of a retail block with no possibility of a drive-through. In 2019, Caribou opened what it billed then as a new concept location just two miles away from the original shop. The newer Caribou at 5000 Vernon Ave. in Edina features ample seating, parking and a drive-through.

In March, Caribou closed several downtown Minneapolis locations and reported it had 330 company-owned stores around the country, 141 “non-traditional” locations, plus 294 franchise locations in 11 countries. Other under-performing stores around the Twin Cities have recently been shuttered as well, including one in downtown Wayzata and another on Hopkins Crossroad in Minnetonka. Earlier this year.

In the inaugural episode of TCB’s By All Means podcast in 2019, John Puckett talked about the early days when he and his wife would literally stand out on the sidewalk in Linden Hills, urging passersby to come in and give Caribou a try.

“Life is too short to spend Sunday night dreading going in to work on Monday,” Puckett said of the decision to leave the corporate world and start Caribou. “We felt like life is … too precious to not really feel connected to your work and passionate about what you’re doing.”

On its website, Caribou talks about that first location, and the Puckett’s vision to build a “personal connection into the coffee experience.

Caribou Coffee is headquartered in Brooklyn Center. The chain is owned by German equity company JAB Holding Company.