Rituals scales back to one location
Published:Wednesday | February 24, 2016 | 4:07 PM
The Rituals Coffee House Jamaica franchise closed its Fairview Plaza location in Montego Bay, which resulted in the company scaling back operations to a single cafÈ in Kingston.
The chain started operations in Jamaica with a soft launch in November 2009. It's controlled by the Kim Clarke-led Maritime and Transport Services Limited.
Clarke office's said he had no comment. However, a source in Montego Bay indicated that Rituals appeared to lose some store traffic after the opening of rival coffee house - CafÈ Blue - in the same plaza.
"It resulted in patrons choosing between two cafÈ options in the same plaza," the person said.
Rituals sells hot, cold and sweetened coffee sourced, especially from the Jamaica High Mountain region. It also sells pastries, sandwiches and other foods. Interestingly, though, the cafÈ
doesn't sell luxury Jamaica Blue Mountain, which represents the hallmark of most cafÈs in the island.
Rituals is owned by Global Brands Limited, a Trinidad-based company which started the chain in 2004 and now
operates more than 70 coffee shops across the Caribbean.