Rumors of the 15th Avenue Starbucks’ death are true. When Starbucks announced their initial round of store closures nearly a year ago, the 15th Avenue store was on the initial closure list. The CHS community had mixed emotions regarding Loretta Donnelly’s efforts to save the store. Local journo C.R. Douglas was a fan. Though Loretta and her supporters achieved a temporary stay from closure in 2008, it looks as if 2009 (and Starbucks’ declining growth) proved fatal.
Update: I know I recently saw this location on a list of Seattle-area Starbucks that would be closed but cannot locate the link. But based on linder seattle‘s DPD info below – I think it’s safe to say it will be a Starbucks no more. Have a phone call into both permit applicants for clarification.
Seen at the weekend. Implies that it will reopen as a Starbucks. Would surely advertise the fact if it was going to be something new. If they were closing I expect they’d just “go gentle into that good night”.
I walked by on Saturday before they had the big wood walls up, and the sign said it would be reopening in about a month after a renovation. Seemed odd to me since it was rumored to be closing, but that is what the sign said. It was a real, printed Starbucks sign, but oddly there wasn’t a lot of starbucks branding on the sign. “Your Neighborhood Coffee Shop”.
Looks like a new sign will be installed for Fifteenth Avenue Coffee & Tea
permit link
Interestingly, one of the names on the permit is a Starbucks employee. So this is likely a Starbucks-related venture.
I have fished a few dates out of the Starbucks on Denny, but, really, their coffee is nothing special. And the baked stuff is often stale tasting … so, a new brand is welcome for me … with better eats as well as better coffee …
The 15th Starbucks had been on the closure list, but it got saved. (Per conversation with employee on last day.) It is going to re-open in July remodeled into a Starbucks “new concept” cafe like the Starbucks at 1st and Pike. Different lighting, more raw surfaces.
Interesting. Given the paper signage Andrew shares and this permit — btw, both people on the permit are SBUX employees sez LinkedIn — it doesn’t appear our corp overlords are giving up on 15th yet. Curious to see if the whole Fifteenth Ave Coffee & Tea is a reboot and some kind of experimental brand or just how they filled in the form.
I talked to the manager about a week prior to the closing. She said that it was going to reopen as something new, but they didn’t know exactly what that meant. The employees will not be automatically brought back, though they can apply for jobs at the new store.
I hope they’ll still carry the line of breakfast sandwiches.
So the rumor is that SBux is going to open a concept store where, the focus on the quality of the beverage, and it takes a bit longer to get your drink. It is supposed to be more of a local coffehouse, less corporate feeling, with regular pull machines and possibly different ingredients (syrups ect).
Hey neighbors,
I work at Starbucks and live in Capitol Hill. I am part of the 15th ave. store project and can’t wait to show you the store and how we are going to keep the coffeehouse culture alive in this community. Not much to share now, but will try to keep you all updated along the way.
TKP
By LAUREN SHEPHERD, AP Business Writer Lauren Shepherd, Ap Business Writer – Thu Jul 16, 4:40 pm ET
NEW YORK – Starbucks Corp. said Thursday it is wiping its name from one of its Seattle-area stores and adding alcohol to the menu.
The Seattle-based gourmet coffee chain said it is changing the name of one of its existing stores in its hometown to a name that reflects the neighborhood location. The store will be called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. It will open next week and will serve coffee and tea as well as wine and beer.
The company said it will then open two more Seattle-area stores without the Starbucks name in locations that aren’t currently Starbucks stores.
The chain said if the rethought coffee shop is a success it will consider replicating it in other cities.
“It’s interesting,” said Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy, “especially since the Starbucks brand has been such an integral part of their success.”
Hottovy said he thinks the Starbucks brand still “resonates” with those who drink coffee regularly. But, he added, with the recession now in its second year, the brand may be struggling more because it is considered “premium,” and therefore expensive, by consumers.
The company has been unable in recent months to keep its sales growing as more consumers cut out small luxuries to save money. Starbucks is slated to report its fiscal third quarter financial results on Tuesday and analysts have largely predicted another same-store sales decline, particularly, in particular, that competition with lower-priced rivals like McDonald’s Corp. has heated up.
McDonald’s has been rolling out its own line of espresso-based drinks to all of its 14,000 U.S. locations and has been heavily promoting the beverages.
Andrew Hetzel, the founder of coffee consulting group Cafemakers, said Starbucks may also be renaming its stores to provide a testing ground for changes and, possibly, to bring in a new brand of consumer.
“It looks to me that they are testing a specialty sub-brand to see if they can capture some other segment of the market that would otherwise be disillusioned by a large corporate chain,” Hetzel said, adding that opening only one at first “gives them a live shop to test changes in menu offerings, store design and, perhaps, procedures quickly” without disrupting operating stores branded with the Starbucks name.