One of the last two full-line Diedrich Coffeehouses in Orange County closes Wednesday.
The Diedrich at University Center in Irvine across from UCI will be replaced by a Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
Starbucks assumed most Diedrich locations when Diedrich decided last year to give up the fight and focus on its wholesale business. The Irvine Company, however, said it wanted its customers to have more choices, so declined to transfer the leases to Starbucks at University Center and at The Crossroads on Barranca Parkway, said Bill Rams, the Irvine Company’s director of media relations.
The lease at University Center runs out this month. A Diedrich employee told me The Crossroad lease expires at the end of 2008.
If you need a Diedrich fix after that, there’s still a coffee cart at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and a stand inside the Crevier dealership in Santa Ana.
Peet’s will open in Spring 2008, a spokeswoman said.