Business First has a much more solid story at this link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/n ... a=e_du_pubHeine Brothers’ and Vint coffee chains to mergeBusiness First by Stephanie Clouser, Reporter
Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 1:53pm EST - Last Modified: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 2:04pm ESTHeine Brothers’ Coffee co-owner and co-founder Mike Mays has purchased co-founder Gary Heine’s interest in the coffee chain and is merging the company with newly founded Vint, a Louisville-based coffee chain with five area locations.
The combined companies now have 13 locations in Louisville. Each company will be run separately for the next several months, and Heine Brothers and Vint coffee shops will keep their current staff.
Vint is owned and operated by Green Beans LLC partners Chuck Schnatter, Chris Lavenson and his wife, Toni Lavenson. The Green Beans partners re-branded their stores as Vint in June, after ending their licensing agreement with Java Inc.
Heine Brothers’, which has nine locations in Louisville, was co-founded by Heine and Mays in 1994.
“Gary and I have had a great 17-year run as co-owners of Heine Brothers’,” Mays said in a news release. “He has been a good partner over the years, and his values are a big part of who Heine Brothers’ is today.
“I also have a lot of respect for the Vint team and know them well,” Mays said. “We see this as a fun opportunity to work together instead of working against each other. We will be able to accomplish so much more and are excited about the impact our combined efforts will have on the Louisville community.
“By bringing these two great local brands together, we will remain 100 percent locally owned and operated, and our commitment to our community and the many non-profits we already support will be as strong as ever,” he said.
Mays, Schnatter, and the Lavensons will be partners in the combined business, Heine Brothers’ Vint Coffee, with Mays serving as president.
“Given that our locations match up well without much geographic overlap, we thought now would be the logical time to bring these two strong businesses together to make them even stronger,” Schnatter said in the release.
He said the company would “do some research over the next six to 12 months to determine what our employees and customers love best about each of our cultures, values and business practices to help the partnership evolve and grow.”
