Columbus Café & Co’s first outlet in Toronto, Canada | Photo credit: Columbus Café & Co

Columbus Café & Co has announced plans to double its footprint in Canada via a new partnership with book retailer Indigo. 
 

The French coffee chain opened its first Canadian outlet in Montreal in 2020 and currently operates 11 stores across the province of Quebec and a single site in Toronto, which opened this month.

Columbus Café & Co will ‘bring new life’ to 11 Indigo and Chapters bookstores across Quebec and Ontario, with the first six sites of the partnership opening before the end of 2023. 

Columbus Café & Co said the agreement will introduce the brand to new audiences across Canada. 

“Canada is an important market for us, offering strong opportunities for growth. We opened our first branch in Montreal in 2020, with the aim of establishing ourselves first in Quebec, and following suit nationwide,” said Nicolas Riché, CEO, Columbus Café & Co. 

Indigo is Canada's largest book retailer with 168 outlets across its Indigo, Chapters and Coles Books divisions. The majority of its sites formerly included Starbucks concessions until the Seattle-based coffee chain announced plans to close over 300 of its stores in Canada during the pandemic. 

Indigo’s plan to repurpose its café spaces also includes a partnership with Good Earth Coffeehouse. The Calgary-based coffee chain currently operates eight stores within Indigo outlets. 

Founded in 1994, Columbus Café & Co is one of the largest coffee shop chains in France, with approximately 220 stores. Alongside Canada, the business has stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy and Bahrain.  

In September 2022 Columbus Café & Co set a target to reach 500 stores globally within five years.