The Medlock Area Neighborhood Association website has released a new letter from Scott Selig, which details many of the next steps as Suburban Plaza is redeveloped.  You can read the full letter HERE, but a few of the highlights include (as noted by MANA)…

demolition of parts of existing structures: in the coming weeks (summer 2014)
facade renovations: fall 2014
anticipated redevelopment completion: summer 2015
new tenants open for business: fall 2015

As for physical transportation improvements around the site, Mr. Selig states in the letter that the new traffic signal at the Suburban Plaza entrance on N. Decatur Road has been approved and should be installed “next summer”.  Also the installation of a left turn lane median on Church Street has been approved.  Additionally, “median islands” for Medlock Road and Sycamore Drive has been approved, and they’ve “initiated the process for the 25MPH speed limit for the two streets.”

The MANA site also notes that Selig is inviting community feedback on a Special Land Use Permit for a drive-through Starbucks at Suburban Plaza, and will host a meeting Tuesday, June 24, 7pm, at North Decatur Presbyterian Church (611 Medlock Road).

This is all over (what’s remaining of) the Atlanta blogosphere this morning, but Alex was good enough to send it along last night.  Reuters reported late yesterday that Starbucks will soon begin selling beer and wine at some locations around Atlanta and Southern California.  Here’s a blurb…

Starbucks is planning to add beer, wine and food such as savory snacks and hot flatbreads to the menus in four to six outlets in both Atlanta and Southern California.

The world’s biggest coffee chain started selling those items at a Seattle cafe in October 2010. Five stores in the Seattle area and one in Portland, Oregon, now offer the extended menu.

Interesting that the new test locations are Atlanta and S. California, no?  Do we have a drinking problem?

Anywho, the obvious question is – will the downtown Decatur location be one of these test locations?  That’s currently unknown, but I’ve heard rumblings over the last couple months that Starbucks employees have been telling patrons at the downtown location that the store would be closing for at least a month for a renovation some time in the near future.

Could they be related?

Erica reports on Twitter that the massive Starbucks, which is part of Emory’s new Barnes & Noble bookstore that sits along Oxford Road at the edge of Emory Village has opened to the public.  She also provides the pic above.  (used with permission)

WhiskAwayNic notes it’s the largest campus Starbucks in the country.

From the Emory Report…

Emory’s new campus bookstore and admissions office continues construction on Oxford Road. The building is expected to be complete in late May, and occupied later this summer.

When completed, the three story structure will house a Barnes & Noble Bookstore on the first and second level, a large Starbucks coffee shop on the first level, and a Barnes and Noble “spirit merchandise” sales area on the third level. The new undergraduate admissions office will also be on the third floor.

A landscaped plaza, the Anne Register Jones Courtyard, will bridge the area between the new building and the B. Jones Building.  Recently named to honor the wife of Boisfeuillet Jones, the courtyard will be a large “green roof” over a new parking deck.

Interior and Exterior Renderings courtesy of the Emory Report

So hot in fact that all kinds of big ol’ corporations are trying to get in on the action, as documented in this article from The Wire.  Starbucks’ efforts are especially interesting…

In one of the more brazen attempts by a corporation to disguise itself as a locally owned business, Starbucks is un-branding at least three of its Seattle outlets. The first of these conversions, just reopened after extensive remodeling, is called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. All of the signage and product labels bear this new name. The Starbucks corporate logo is nowhere to be seen.

This is the latest, and arguably most audacious, in a string of corporate attempts to imitate and co-opt local-ness. But there are plenty of other examples.

h/t: LaVida Locavore (via Mark Bittman)

Photo courtesy of the Seattle Times

A year ago, the sky seemed to be the limit for Starbucks. Plans for 40,000 stores worldwide were met with some skepticism, but most seemed to think if anyone could do it, it would be Starbucks.

But then, as 2007 got into full swing, the wheels started to come off.

It became apparent that while Starbucks still had tremendous growth opportunities overseas, things were very different on the domestic front. Same store sales data seemed to show over-saturation and the stock fell 40%. The once trendy status symbol, which I once heard described as a “four-dollar Mercedes”, wasn’t so trendy anymore.

Others looked past the saturation argument and instead blamed the quality of the product. These folks accused the fully-automated machines that could better handle the growing lines at the counter, but removed much of the “je ne sais qua” that the friendly, but fiendishly busy Barista provided.

Regardless of the reason, in 2008, Starbucks is looking to reinvent itself. CEO superstar Howard Schultz is back in the saddle and has promised that the company will return to its roots. That means no more hot breakfast sandwiches, which were being tested in many metropolitan areas, as well as many other secret plans not yet revealed.

So, after that brief recap here’s the question of the morning: Do you think Starbucks can pull it off?

If the coffee chain were to revert back to a time when their service was more personalized and focused on the coffee, would you make a point to stop on the Square a grab a cup? Or are the Decatur coffee animals (Java MONKEY or Dancing GOATS) more your style? Perhaps you just prefer to brew your own…