Gloria Jean’s Coffees was founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979 in Long Grove, Ill. a small town just outside Chicago. The firm began as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago and grew to over 50 locations throughout the US. In 1995, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine. former managing director of advertising agency DDB Needham, visited the United States to sample the Gloria Jean’s Coffees brand. Saleh and Irvine identified the opportunity for this brand in Australia, purchasing the international licensing rights from Diedrich Coffee, Inc.