Hundreds of people have contacted Tully's Coffee about opening franchise stores since the company announced last month that it's open to single-franchise locations, according to Scott Earle, the Seattle-based chain's vice president of marketing and business development.

It had to turn away people for a franchise expo last Tuesday evening at its corporate headquarters near I-5.

"We overbooked the room and had 56 people," Earle said. "The vast majority wants to take the next steps to learn more and sign franchise disclosure documents."

Tully's is scrambling to get information to dozens more who are interested. They come from as far away as Pennsylvania, but Tully's wants them to open stores in western Washington initially.

The chain has 65 stores in this area, and "we feel like we have a good amount of room to grow, especially in areas outside Seattle and Bellevue proper," Earle said.

CEO Carl Pennington, whose sons own Tully's franchises in Idaho, said that opening a Tully's franchise costs $175,000 to $425,000. Franchisees pay 5 percent of their sales in royalties, plus 2 percent for marketing to Tully's, he said.

Currently, 25 of Tully's 185 stores is franchised; another 82 are licensed to grocery stores and other businesses.