Not Starbucks, Not Dunkin': The Coffee Chain That Dominated '90s Food Courts

For those who grew up in the 1990s, going to the mall was a way of life. Mall culture was real and consisted of spending hours with your friends, milling in and out of stores, and inevitably ending up at the bustling food court. In the midst of the delicious smells coming from places like Cinnabon, Sbarro, and Auntie Anne's (and plenty of others that have pretty much vanished), there was a rich aroma of roasted coffee. It was most likely coming from Gloria Jean's Coffees, a chain that was inside countless malls and shopping centers, even when other chain coffee companies like Starbucks were swiftly on the rise.

At its peak, there were over 220 Gloria Jean's Coffees locations scattered throughout the United States; but today, there are only about 30 locations left, with the largest concentration in Illinois. The decline of people visiting malls over the last 30 years likely has much to do with the steep drop in numbers. Gloria Jean's was also sold to Australian company, Retail Food Group, in 2014. The chain currently consists of over 600 stores across 40 countries. If you visited a location today, you'd notice a lot of cold, blended drinks that the company calls "Chillers," along with a number of classic hot beverages. However, it was something different that set Gloria Jean's coffee apart from its rivals.

In 1979, Gloria Jean Kvetko opened a coffee house in Long Grove, Illinois called Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee, having been inspired by the coffee culture she experienced on a trip to Australia. Enjoying immediate success, she decided to franchise the business, and it quickly spread across shopping centers in the United States. With so much coffee competition going on at the time, Gloria Jean's discovered an untapped niche in flavored coffees. Not flavored syrups, but coffee beans flavored with things like vanilla almond and hazelnut.

Unique coffee bean flavors are still something customers can buy and order; the Gloria Jean's website currently offers flavors like Irish Crème, Blueberry Sunrise, Cherry Jubilee, and Pumpkin Spice (ironically, this flavor was immortalized by rival company Starbucks). Gloria Jean's regularly updates its menu to include seasonal flavors for its Chillers, iced, and hot drinks, keeping things fresh for its customers. So, if you remember Gloria Jean's from your mall-hopping days and find yourself near a location, stop in and see if it's just as delicious as you remember. Surely, the aroma will draw you in anyway.