Report: Tully’s Coffee closing stores due to lack of coffee

SEATTLE (AP) - Tully's Coffee, which once aspired to challenge Starbucks in the global coffee market, is temporarily closing stores due to a lack of coffee.

The Seattle Times reports that Tully's project director Krystal Tonning emailed company managers Thursday advising them that there was "very minimal coffee left in stores." She thanked the managers for their flexibility and said it was unclear when more coffee would arrive.

Tully's was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2013 by Michael J. Avenatti - better known today as the attorney for Stormy Daniels, the porn star who was paid $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Donald Trump.

Company spokeswoman Suzy Quinn told The Times that Avenatti no longer owns Tully's but is its general counsel. In an email, she attributed the closures to a rebranding.