We still haven’t heard back from Stumptown regarding rival roaster Todd Carmichael’s assertion that “Duane Sorenson, the founder of Stumptown, the Che Guevara of the rock-star barista movement, sold his life’s work to the highest bidder.” But a Stumptown rep tells Willamette Week that “Duane has a friend who’s invested some money into Stumptown to help us grow — to open up a couple of cafes, maybe a market.” Based on documents the Portland weekly has unearthed, that friend would seem to be Alexander Stavros Panos of TSG Consumer Partners, which has invested in Vitaminwater and Voss Water in the past. That said, Sorenson is “still very much in charge of the company,” so all you folks who’ve been saying that Stumptown is turning into Starbucks for over a year now, chill out.
State Documents Show Shift Atop Stumptown Coffee [Willamette Week]
