A new Starbucks opened Sept. 8 in the heart of the Downtown Campus, despite four other Starbucks within a five-block radius.
The coffee shop, on the first floor of Taylor Place — the new downtown residence hall — has entrances from inside the dorm, as well as the street on First Avenue and Taylor Street.
Education graduate student Brittney Kimball manages the new location, which employs around 20 ASU students, all of whom are Taylor Place residents.
Like all other food services at ASU, Starbucks is coordinated through ARAMARK, unlike a corporate Starbucks location.
“We’re nice because we can take M&G and Sun Dollars here unlike other Starbucks around,” Kimball said.
Kimball acknowledged her store is aimed toward students, unlike the other Starbucks in the area.
The next closest location is in the Arizona Center, about two blocks away. The store’s difference is their clientele, said Cash Stricker, who has been at the Arizona Center Starbucks for six months.
“We get the occasional tourists, but we have a lot of regulars,” Stricker said.
Stricker said his store focuses on business customers and foresees no problems with a new Starbucks a few blocks away.
“We tend to adapt to the business hours, so we close earlier on weekdays and open later in the mornings on weekends,” Stricker said.
Historically, Starbucks locations within close proximity to each other haven’t had bad business. According to a New York Daily News article, there are 171 Starbucks on island of Manhattan alone.
The mentality of having stores within close distance to one another changed in July 2008.
Starbucks announced they would be closing approximately 600 U.S. stores due to poor real estate decisions and a bad economy, according to a statement from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
Schultz, who has been associated with Starbucks since 1982 said, “With regard to the store closings, they are necessary to position us for future growth, both in the U.S. and globally.”
According to the Starbucks Web site, as of Sept. 1, only one location had been closed in Arizona as a result of the July statement. The majority were closed in California and Florida.
As for Kimball and the Taylor Place location, she plans on seeing her store do well because of its atmosphere and hours, which are designed for students.
“It’s the conversational atmosphere we create, and we’re very cultured,” Kimball said. “And we want to be involved in the community. We’re trying to work right now with Habitat for Humanity and other service projects.”
Reach the reporter at brent.alex@asu.edu.
