Summer '04 Edition
Seeing stars
April TolerDaily Egyptian
Ann Waring received a pleasant surprise Monday while she was walking through the Student Center, when she realized the new campus Starbucks was open for business.
Waring, who is originally from Crystal Lake, used to patron her local Starbucks back home and is happy SIUC has added it to the Student Center.
"I use to go there before work," said Waring, a sophomore in childhood education, "I didn't even know it was open today. I saw some girl walking with a drink and I was like 'All right, I'm gonna go,'
"I'm glad that they have something like this now. Because I don't really like regular coffee, hot coffee, I like cold drinks. I like how they have that."
The new Starbucks is located on the north end of the Student Center in the former location of Ritazza.
SIUC and Chartwells decided to open Starbucks on campus after hearing about the success of the Starbucks on the SIU-Edwardsville campus.
One difference between the former Ritazza and the new Starbucks is the space. Small, wooden tables adorn the new space, offering plenty of seating, something Ritazza did not.
One of the goals of the new Starbucks is to offer customers the same experience of a big city Starbucks.
John Pierce, district manager for Starbucks, will oversee the new coffee shop for the first week, making sure that it meets the name brand's standards.
"I'll be responsible for the store from the Starbucks perspective," Pierce said. "I'll sort of consult with the team here. Help them drive some sales and make sure their operations are up to standard."
Some former employees from Ritazza and new employees have been training for the past two weeks in preparation for the store's opening day.
"The training program that they get is exactly the same as the training program they get at a company operated store," Pierce said. "The menu items, the ingredients, the coffee, everything that comes into this store is exactly the same as would go into a company operated store."
Not only does Pierce want Carbondale customers to be exposed to something new, he also wants students from out of town to enjoy the familiar Starbucks brand.
"Our whole goal is that somebody walking in who's familiar with us from a larger city wouldn't know anything different, that they would think that they were in their own neighborhood Starbucks," Pierce said.
"It's great exposure for the brand," Pierce said. "A lot of folks that come to the University already know us. Maybe they live in St. Louis or Chicago and they come here for school, so they're already exposed to the brand."
M.J. Buchman, general manager of the local coffee shop Melange, welcomes any new business that comes to the Carbondale area.
"Any business that opens up and can flourish in Carbondale is good for the community," Buchman said.
Pierce hopes that not only students, but also the Carbondale community, come out to enjoy what Starbucks has to offer.
"I think the store will do extremely well because it will be able to reach out to people outside of the University community," Pierce said.
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