Photo via Northwest Military [Full Disclosure: Your Sprudge Editors are Tacoma, Washington natives.]
Dateline, Tacoma: The City of Destiny is reeling after waves of name change drama, seemingly rolling in with the tides on Commencement Bay. First, the city’s six-year-old Satellite Coffee chain – the original just across from Wright Park, the second in the Masa complex on Sixth Avenue – has officially changed its name to Cosmonaut Coffee. Why? Northwest Military has all the details:
Satellite Coffee began its coffee making adventure back in 2007. Shortly thereafter some folks in Albuquerque, New Mexico contacted the Tacoma shop. You see, they too were Satellite Coffee, completely unassociated and though many miles away, they threatened legal action. Initially Brown didn’t consider it as a problem, “They didn’t have a case. We weren’t impersonating them and there was a geographical remoteness. There was no threat of someone taking a wrong turn in Albuquerque and spending their $3.75 at our shop in Tacoma. It was a rookie mistake. We spent too much time and money to have lawyers correspond back and forth. Finally I wrote them a letter myself.”
Brown received a “man to man” response from the husband of the husband and wife team, informing him that the Albuquerque chain had intentions to franchise their operations and the wife was going to move forward with legal action unless Satellite here in the Northwest changed their name.
Owner Pat Brown has big plans for the future, namely trademarking his business as well as figuring out a clever acronym for CCCP. Once again, here’s Northwest Military:
Brown wants to find a witty interpretation of the Russian Space “CCCP,” redefining it to Cosmonaut Coffee Café. Whatever the case you can continue to look forward to coffee and service held to the usual stellar standards.
