Names and faces

— Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey may soon be serving hot, steaming cups of joe. Dempsey won a bankruptcy auction to buy Tully’s Coffee, a small coffee chain based in Seattle. Among those he beat out is Tully’s much bigger Seattle neighbor, Starbucks Corp., which is known for its ubiquitous white cups with a circular green mermaid logo. Dempsey, whose company Global Baristas LLC plans to keep the Tully’s name,declared victory on the social-media site Twitter: “We met the green monster, looked her in the eye, and ... SHE BLINKED! We got it! Thank you Seattle!” The win for Dempsey deals a rare setback for Starbucks on its home turf. Starbucks has long been both praised for bringing “coffeehouse culture” to the U.S. and criticized for crushing smaller chains. The coffee giant, which had planned to convert the Tully’s cafes to its own brand, last month announced plans to expand its global footprint to 20,000 cafes over the next two years, up from the current 18,000. Dempsey said in an interview on Friday that as the underdog in Seattle, Tully’s will need to find its identity. “It’s a much smaller chain that has a lot of potential that hasn’t been given the proper care,” he said. But in a statement shortly after the auction on Thursday, Starbucks insinuated that Dempsey shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Starbucks said that a final determination on the winning bid won’t be made until a court hearing next week. Starbucks said it’s in a “back-up” position” to buy 25 of the 47 Tully’s cafes, with another undisclosed bidder making an offer for the remainder.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi will appear on the series finale of NBC’s 30 Rock. Pelosi’s office confirmed Friday the California congressman will appear, but did not reveal any other details. The final episode of Tina Fey’s comedy is to air Jan. 31, ending seven seasons for the Emmy Award-winning show. Other political figures who have appeared on the show include former Vice President Al Gore, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 01/05/2013

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