America's Largest Cities Without A Downtown Starbucks

[Metro Jacksonville]

America's Largest Cities Without A Downtown Starbucks



Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 21,536 stores in 64 countries and territories, including 12,218 in the United States. However,if you're looking for Frappauccino in one of these city's downtowns you'll find yourself out of luck. Here's the five largest cities in the United States where you won't find a single Starbucks location downtown.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-jun-americas-largest-cities-without-a-downtown-starbucks

[mtraininjax]

What, no starbucks in Springfield? I thought the neighborhood was on the upswing? Oops...my mistake...

[Redbaron616]

Starbucks is for people to be seen and to feel important while they pay for overpriced coffee. I could care less if Starbucks closed forever. Don't go there and don't need coffee to get me going.

[Adam White]

Starbucks is for people to be seen and to feel important while they pay for overpriced coffee. I could care less if Starbucks closed forever. Don't go there and don't need coffee to get me going.

I'm sorry, but that's about the stupidest thing I've read in a while. Unless you honestly believe that the millions (billions?) of people worldwide who go to Starbucks each year do it because they need to " be seen and feel important".

It's cool if you don't like their coffee. But is it so hard to accept that some people might?

[jaxlore]

We do actually have several very good alternatives to Starbucks downtown, Vagabond Coffee, Chamblin's, and heck even the Brick at the Ed Ball building serves Seattle's Best. While I see the allure of having a Starbucks downtown and this is not really a list we want to be on, I would rather see a home grown full service coffee shop spring up instead.

[blizz01]

Well, at least it smells like coffee downtown.....

[finehoe]

"One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the things to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: 'I am sure they are sour.'”

It would seem some are missing the point.  Whether Starbucks has good or bad coffee or if you personally like it or not is irrelevant.  The fact that one of the most successful retail outlets of the 21st century doesn't feel the need to have a presence in downtown Jacksonville says volumes about the health of our central business district.

[blizz01]

It's not like they haven't noticed - there are ~45-50 (loose count) in the Jax metro area - crazy.

http://www.starbucks.com/store-locator#search/location/Jacksonville%2C%20FL

[NaldoAveKnight]

Sounds like an opportunity for Bold Bean?  +1 for Chamblin's.  I think most folks would rather have Jax standing out for the amount of support we give to independent businesses.  Not having a Starbucks in your downtown is a good thing.  It shows that you're cool and don't follow the herd.  There's been a lot of solid small businesses started here in the past 5 years.  Maybe Jax is the Portland of the east coast and we are off the radar?  Now that's as cool as it gets.

[Mueller]

The issue of not having a Starbucks has much less to do with preference for/against the company and it's products, but rather more to do with the state of Downtown Jax.  I realize there are a lot of people that like Starbucks, and a lot of people that hate it.  I personally would rather go to Chamblin's myself.

However, the fact that Starbucks chooses not to have a single store or kiosk in Downtown Jax, Southbank, or Springfield means that they (and likely other companies) view the region as unsuccessful and not worth the investment.  In contrast, at L'Enfant Plaza in downtown DC, there are 3 full Starbucks stores within a 2 minute walk of each other, including 2 on adjacent metro entrances.  It also speaks to perception from tourists, reporters, and visitors when this commonplace business is not present (such as Paul Kuharsky's blog when covering the Jaguars training camp in 2013).

[blizz01]

Maybe Jax is the Portland of the east coast and we are off the radar?

Maybe; we have lots of homeless like Portland.  But there are like 10ish Starbucks locations in Downtown Portland alone.

[simms3]

Sounds like an opportunity for Bold Bean?  +1 for Chamblin's.  I think most folks would rather have Jax standing out for the amount of support we give to independent businesses.  Not having a Starbucks in your downtown is a good thing.  It shows that you're cool and don't follow the herd.  There's been a lot of solid small businesses started here in the past 5 years.  Maybe Jax is the Portland of the east coast and we are off the radar?  Now that's as cool as it gets.

OMG I think you need to go to Portland.  San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland are probably the best coffee cities in America with the greatest concentration of independent roasters, as well as the best roasters.  The biggest chains (like Starbucks from Seattle or Peets from the Bay Area) just happen to also come from these areas, not surprisingly.  I can guarantee you that downtown Portland has no less than a dozen Starbucks/Peets, in addition to dozens of other coffee places.

My big question is are Jax residents/workers not big coffee drinkers?  And if not, how do people work?

And for the record, Seattle's best is like Folgers or Maxwell House.  LoL


Having a Starbucks downtown is like having a Gap in your mall.  It's a simply a sign that your downtown isn't on its death bed and still has workers who work.  Starbucks real estate department is like that of Target's or Whole Food's RE department.  They are quite sophisticated for a retail site selection department, and they usually get it right.

So...this isn't good at all that we are the largest city (in the developed/developing world?) without a Sbux downtown.

[urbanlibertarian]

Yeah, it's not that we want Starbucks DT, it's that they don't want to be DT.  Rejection stinks.  Even Taco Bell is too risk averse to dip their toe in the water.

[Adam White]

I wonder what can be done to make Downtown attractive to companies like Starbucks. Or more accurately, what plan can we come up with to get us there?

I'd like to see more businesses downtown. Does anyone know if the Quizno's in the Ed Ball building is still there? I was stuck eating there a LOT when I worked at First Union back in 2002.

[NaldoAveKnight]

Yeah, it's not that we want Starbucks DT, it's that they don't want to be DT.  Rejection stinks.  Even Taco Bell is too risk averse to dip their toe in the water.

Gee, Taco Bell?  Their market is pretty much high school kids, right?  After a night of doing doughnuts in empty parking lots and street racing hitting the Bell seemed natural.  Back then we only had a few bucks and that 59, 79 and 99 cent menu went a long way.