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There’s a big fight brewing over Gotham.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea — which has trumpeted for more than a year its battle plan to launch 15 coffee shops in the metro New York area to take on Starbucks — is suddenly at war with its own troops.
Peet’s development partners, which launched other successful expansions in Peet’s hometown of San Francisco, had led the Big Apple invasion and recently won plaudits for capturing a handful of enviable deals and leases for prime locations, including SoHo, Midtown and the new 1 World Trade Center.
Aegis Group, Peet’s development partner, had the blessing of the coffee chain’s brass, including CEO Patrick O’Dea, who transferred one of Peet’s senior operating officers to help run the enterprise.
The enemy, however, isn’t just Starbucks anymore.
Aegis has slapped the coffee chain with a suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that Peet’s launched a brazen attack to snatch all the territory and deals won by Aegis.
“Peet’s reneged on its commitment because it wants to take the business opportunities developed by Aegis after much time, money and effort, for itself and a rival of Aegis,” the group said in a complaint seeking an injunction to halt Peet’s moves.
Without any warning, Peet’s cut off supplies and support in April, forbidding the franchise group to use Peet’s name, Aegis said.
Aegis said it discovered the sneak attack by accident when it noticed an unusual $7,930 invoice from Peet’s law firm demanding that Aegis pay legal costs for preparing its own replacement by “rivals” — possibly Peet’s itself.
In court papers, Aegis said Peet’s used a “pretense” — a minor paperwork change — to pull the plug on their four-year relationship. Peet’s objected when Aegis used Peet’s name on a liquor license application for a store in the Lipstick Building that opened this spring.
Aegis said while it had Peet’s permission to sell alcoholic beverages at that location, which also incorporates a 110-seat restaurant, it agreed to remove Peet’s name to complete the application.
Peet’s also complained when Aegis invoked their partnership as part of a debt offering and wanted its name removed from the marketing materials.
Peet’s lawyers didn’t return calls.
Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich agreed on Friday to extend an injunction blocking Peet’s attempts to cut off Aegis until she rules in the case.
Court documents said Peet’s lauded Aegis in press releases and e-mails for its skills in landing top spots in town for Peet’s, including Greenwich Village, Gramercy and Citigroup Center on E. 53rd Street at Lexington.
Aegis opened its first Peet’s in March at the Lipstick Building on E. 53rd and Third Avenue and has begun renovations for its SoHo site on E. Houston Street.
It was blocked from opening two other sites, in Trumbull, Conn., and Paramus, NJ, which would cost Aegis $1,000 a day in penalties for delayed openings.