Starbucks totally out of downtown now? (place, driving, around)

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by bativac

Ain't that the truth. Nor is it a "coffee shop" type of town. Now a "burger joint" or "sandwich shoppe" place? I'll give you that. I personally prefer local places and stay away from chains. But most locals prefer Sonny's or Golden Corral or maybe McDonald's or KFC.

I still say our downtown just doesn't have the traffic. Yeah, there are people downtown during the day, but it certainly isn't crowded. Not even close. It's a wonder Starbucks stayed downtown as long as they did. The fact that they're doesn't necessarily MEAN anything but it doesn't SAY anything good about the atmosphere downtown.

Yeah, that sounds about right. From what I saw, there were decent crowds on some warm weekends or when there's an event (sometimes, not often, but sometimes, you could mistake it as a real downtown), but overall the majority of the time it's pretty dead.

If I were guessing, I'd say these were some of Starbucks' "take a chance" stores. Meaning, they probably went in with the notion that things were gonna turn around. But everything down there just kinda stalled out & seems like they're even regressing a bit. I think the downtown resident population has pretty much been stagnant, somewhere in between like 5k-10k for many years (which is quite bad for a town of this size).

Once they saw things weren't progressing like they thought they would, they probably just said eff it & bolted. The Mayoral thing could have even played a role in them seeing what was on the horizon, who knows. From what I understand, they really do their homework in decisions like this, but we'll never really know all the details.

Regardless, its a pretty big blow & not a sign that things are looking up for down there. Sucks.

[fsquid]

It will look like Beiruit in a few years.

[CDSTaR]

is there another downtown in America that doesn't have a Starbucks? WTF?

[CDSTaR]

Oh, and sorry Charlie, you may have a different niche but you're not a substitute.

[mawipafl]

This is not a snide remark but just a thought that popped into my head ... do we/America/humanity actually judge a city by whether it has one particular coffee shop in it? Truly, is Starbucks THE barometer for judging the upswing or downfall trends of a city? I have no answer either way - maybe it's just a rhetorical question. Still, Starbucks leaving downtown has prompted a discussion. But what if it actually has to do with the location at The Landing and if it was at Hemming Plaza, for example, would anything have been different?

[fsquid]

If it was just the location at the landing, wouldn't they just move to another spot?

[bativac]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

This is not a snide remark but just a thought that popped into my head ... do we/America/humanity actually judge a city by whether it has one particular coffee shop in it? Truly, is Starbucks THE barometer for judging the upswing or downfall trends of a city? I have no answer either way - maybe it's just a rhetorical question. Still, Starbucks leaving downtown has prompted a discussion. But what if it actually has to do with the location at The Landing and if it was at Hemming Plaza, for example, would anything have been different?

It's definitely not the sole criteria - but Starbucks is kind of the "canary in the coal mine." Sbarro's left the Landing, and the other Starbucks closed a couple years back. I know there's still a Quizno's or a Subway (or both maybe?) in Hemming Plaza and maybe Starbucks would have worked better over there.

No, the presence of major chains doesn't make or break your downtown, but the presence of a place like Starbucks kind of says "your downtown is prosperous enough to warrant a Starbucks."

Our downtown, clearly, is not.

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by fsquid

If it was just the location at the landing, wouldn't they just move to another spot?

I asked myself the same question ... shops, restaurants, stores relocate all the time. By I don't know all the ins and outs of such a process, whether it's simple or complex or perhaps both depending.

So coincidental (ironic?) that this morning's CBS Sunday Morning had a segment on Starbucks. Katie Couric interviewed CEO Schultz, and he had a fit when Katie said that perhaps in this economy people just can't afford a $5 cup of coffee. The conversation and his response are here ...
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is all abuzz - CBS News

I'm not saying that Starbucks' exit from Jacksonville is purely because of corporate shuffles, but I think that has a large part to do with it. I think that if Starbucks was back to the top of the mountain rather than still making its climb back, they might have sucked it up and kept the Jax store even if it was low-performing.

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

I asked myself the same question ... shops, restaurants, stores relocate all the time. By I don't know all the ins and outs of such a process, whether it's simple or complex or perhaps both depending.

So coincidental (ironic?) that this morning's CBS Sunday Morning had a segment on Starbucks. Katie Couric interviewed CEO Schultz, and he had a fit when Katie said that perhaps in this economy people just can't afford a $5 cup of coffee. The conversation and his response are here ...
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is all abuzz - CBS News

I'm not saying that Starbucks' exit from Jacksonville is purely because of corporate shuffles, but I think that has a large part to do with it. I think that if Starbucks was back to the top of the mountain rather than still making its climb back, they might have sucked it up and kept the Jax store even if it was low-performing.

God she's awful. What a bunch of worthless questions. "Durr, are you gonna make tennis balls & put that on your pillow? And how bout charging $5 for a cup of coffee??"

[mawipafl]

I'm laughing KerryB ... did you see it on TV or just read the article? It was such a mixed interview: the interviewer doing it marshmallowy and the interviewee trying to make serious statements about his company.