Patrick Dempsey Outbids Starbucks For Seattle Coffee Chain

SEATTLE, WA (CNN) — “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey thinks he’s just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Seattle-based coffee chain. Dempsey said he won the bid to buy Tully’s Coffee, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. The company, citing “rising commodity prices and challenging lease economics,” said it planned to close a number of underperforming coffee shop locations as part of its reorganization. Dempsey’s company, which said it beat out six other bidders, including Starbucks, will pay $9.15 million for Tully’s. “It was a brand that needed to be preserved. There were 500 jobs at stake and it just felt right,” Dempsey told CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on Friday. “I’m really excited about this.” Starbucks, however, cautioned that the final determination certifying the winning bid for Tully’s will not occur until a bankruptcy hearing next week.