Coffee Beanery is a Flushing, Michigan

Flushing, Michigan

Flushing is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,348 at the 2000 census. Flushing is considered a suburb of Flint. It is situated within the area of Flushing Charter Township, but is administratively autonomous...

-based chain of coffee shops operating in the US, Europe, Asia, and US Territories. The company was founded in 1976. As of February 2007, they had 131 franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 locations in the United States and another 25 in other countries, most notably in Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, and United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

.

Business model

The company makes most of its money selling franchises and equipment, not the product itself. Most shops close within three years; since the company's founding, more than 100 franchises have failed.

In 2006, the Maryland securities commissioner determined that the company had misrepresented itself to prospective franchisees in violation of state law, and ordered it to release Maryland franchisees from their contracts without penalty. In 2008, the Illinois attorney general made a similar determination.