Reports: Tully's Coffee files for bankruptcy

The Seattle coffee chain Tully's Coffee, sometimes lost in the shadow of the much more successful Starbucks, has filed for bankruptcy protection and hopes to renegotiate its real estate debt, report several news sources.

The Seattle Times says the company is no longer burdened by huge debt but it is cash poor and will likely close more stores.

The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Washington follows years of financial strife for a company whose founder, real-estate developer Tom Tully O’Keefe, opened its first cafe 20 years ago, the Times reported.

"Tully’s Seattle stores in Wallingford, Madison Park, Columbia Tower, Fourth Avenue and Union Street, as well as stores in Redmond and Kirkland, will all close their doors Sunday," the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

The Tacoma News Tribune gets specific: "The parent company of Seattle’s Tully’s Coffee Shops, TC Global Inc., today filed for bankruptcy reorganization in an attempt restart the company as a profitable business."