10 Metro ATL Starbucks to Close; Decatur Safe
July 18, 2008
Oh Starbucks…world domination was just around the corner.
Too bad the housing bubble had to pop and gas prices made the jump, making people think twice about spending $4.50 for a venti espresso drink ( It always irks me when news anchors or uncaffeinated people say “$5 coffee”. OK, SBUX is expensive…but a Grande coffee is $2, not $5.)
Now you’re being forced to close 600 stores across the U.S., and come up with slightly embarrassing new drinks like the Vivanno smoothie (here’s your Jamba Juice substitute decaturmom 
)
But, for now, the Decatur locale is safe. Not really surprising…based purely on the fact that its got a great location in a haven of coffee-drinking Dems. The full list of Atlanta Starbucks closings can be found on the AJC. Or if you just don’t like relying on the AJC, just do what they did…go to the Starbucks website and click the pdf for “store closings”. (The second Mall of GA location is closing?! NO!!)
Slight aside…but my favorite Starbucks location in all of metro Atlanta is out 78 on the way to Snellville (you know…car dealership row?). On the northern side of the road about a half-mile past Park Place Dr., there’s an old house right on Lake Lucerne that’s been converted (rather sympathetically) into a Starbucks. From inside there are great views of the lake…plus there’s a nice little walkway down to the water. Just a tip in case you ever find yourself driving 78 and need a reprieve from all the sprawl.
[photo courtesy Greenville Daily]
Vivanno is embarrassing indeed. Our SBUX has “Vivanno saved my life” written in chalk on the sidewalk. Seriously, this is the same company that has decided to phase out its previously very successful music division so that it can focus on coffee…and yet somehow Vivanno makes sense?!
That article is a bit of a shocker as well. How can a theoretically respectable pub like BW repeatedly use the term “Starbuck’s” without anyone noticing?
Starbucks is ok. It got too big. Manhattan often has two on the same block. BORING! I like a bit of variety myself.
They could close more Starbucks and I’d be happy. Why even go to the Decatur one when you have Java Monkey & Dancing Goats close by? The quality and taste of the Monkey & Goats coffee make Starbucks taste like really bad Folgers.
Speaking of Dancing Goats, Rusty, why does their Wi-Fi suck so much? It goes in and out so much that I really have to stop going in there to work because I can’t stay connected. Is it just me? It’s almost as frustrating as trying to find a seat in there.
The coffee is good though.
The Centennial Olympic Park location of Starbucks closing is sort of a mystery to me. With so much development going on down there and the location right across the street from the park and the aquarium, I can’t imagine why they would want to close that one.
Decaturguy,
You aren’t crazy. Dancing Goats’ WiFi is terrible. It’s not a big deal to me since I don’t usually need it. But if I need access while I mainline my caffeine then I go somewhere else.
They pull a mean espresso. Best one in Atlanta outside of Aurora’s L5P location.
I wouldn’t have guessed Dancing Goats’ Wifi sucked – I can never find a place to sit in there because of the all the people on their laptops! I have to get my coffee and Duck’s donuts to go.
And that photo at the top of this post – wow. To me it speaks volumes about, I don’t know, faux hipness or something. How wasteful and superficial we are.
That’s too bad. I mean the part about the one in Decatur staying open. Starbucks is the Wal-Mart of coffee – it sucks the money out of communities without returning any of the profits or capital. Half the money you spend at Starbucks goes to Seattle or to investors worldwide. Compare that to the money spent at Dancing Goats or Aurora or Kavarna – where does it end up?
You’d think the chain-resistent, socially conscious, small town-aspiring Decatur would have run Starbucks out of here long ago.
Scratch the part about Dancing Goats, I got a little carried away.
I don’t have any problem with Starbucks staying open in Decatur. Everytime I go to Java Monkey or Dancing Goats there are far more people in those shops than there are in Starbucks, so they seem to be competing quite nicely.
Lets not be totally unfair to Starbucks though. I know for a fact that they donate coffee for many charitable groups around Decatur for work projects and such. I also have to admit that I prefer the conistency of their drip coffee sometimes as well. Not an expresso drinker, so I can’t comment.
But to give credit where its due, Starbucks popularized the idea of coffee as a “luxury”. Most of these indies wouldn’t exist today without Starbucks first convincing people it was OK to spend $4.50 on coffee.
Plus I believe they still provide full healthcare to both full and part-time employees. Wal-Mart and a heck of a lot of other companies don’t come close to doing that.
decaturite, thanks. I agree with you. I simply like Starbucks. Yippy. I laugh at some of the hatred thrown their way at times. 15 years ago in Atlanta there were only a few indies here and there. I love having the chance to go to a Starbucks while out of town knowing exactly what I want (and just even having the chance to get a latte in way out places).
Ha! No thanks.
Just got back from Dancing Goats which is my favorite (even though the wifi frustrates me when I am trying to work there). . . .
The Decatur garbage can was overflowing. Does anyone know management well enough to gently suggest that they put their own garbage can that they can empty regularly out there as well to collect the garbage of the patio dwellers?