Caffino Coffee Shops Making A Comeback

Robert Grove is back from a near-death experience.

Now, the Concord resident hopes his drive-through Caffino coffee stands can do the same.

The coffee shops, mostly found in shopping center parking lots, began closing down last fall after the California Department of Corporations filed a desist and refrain order against Caffino.

State officials said the company had let its franchise agreement expire in April 2009. The officials said the company continued to sell franchises until the desist and refrain order was issued last August.

Grove said he had let his business slip the past few years while battling serious heart problems.

Grove said he is now in the process of trying to re-establish his franchise status with the state. He has reopened a dozen of the coffee stands, selling a few to entrepeneurs.

"We're getting back on our feet," he said.

Grove himself works at the Caffino on Monument Boulevard in Concord. He also has reopened three other Concord coffee stands, including one on Meridian Park Boulevard and two on Treat Boulevard.

Other Caffinos have opened, according to Grove, in Albany, Vallejo, Menlo Park, Santa Clara, Milpitas and Campbell. The Caffino in Lafayette is an independently owned shop and has stayed open.

The Caffinos that remain closed are in Oakley and the original

Grove said the company hopes to redesign and reacquire its website, which is listed as having its domain name up for sale.

Caffino was formed as a company in 2001. It had a franchise agreement in California from 2004 to 2009.