There was something steaming at the downtown Starbucks at First and Market yesterday, and it wasn't just the nonfat double lattes.
“This is a bad thing. A lot of us want to start a petition,” said Rick Sharpe, 49, a customer at the downtown Starbucks who, like numerous other regulars, was angered by news of its imminent closure. “I know it's all about dollars and cents, but this is where all the local residents, from the Marina district to the border of the Gaslamp Quarter, come for Starbucks coffee.”
Late Thursday, the Seattle-based gourmet coffee retailer released a list of 600 company-owned stores it plans to close, including 10 Starbucks stores in San Diego and two in Chula Vista. The company did not return telephone calls yesterday or name a date for the closures.
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12 Starbucks closings
SAN DIEGO
9450 Mira Mesa Blvd. 1722 Euclid Ave.
6171 Mission Gorge Road. 101 Market St.
5131 College Ave. 6511 University Ave.
2990 El Cajon Blvd. 3582 National Ave.
3830 Park Blvd. 1122 Broadway.
CHULA VISTA
3037 H St. 2015 Birch Road.
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Starbucks, which is struggling with sagging sales and increased competition, announced July 1 that it would close the then-unnamed stores and lay off 12,000 employees.
San Diego's downtown Starbucks scene reflects the company story in miniature, from the cultlike customer following that made Starbucks a household name to the aggressive growth that made it a punch line for jokes about overheated corporate expansion.
Although fans of the Starbucks at First and Market grumbled yesterday about its planned closure, they only have to walk a few blocks to find another. There is a Starbucks on the corner of Fourth and Market, almost within sight of the store to be closed, as well as a Starbucks at Fifth and F Street, and two in Horton Plaza.
But that's cold comfort to Jason Brandler, co-owner of Crimson Chic Hair Salon, who starts dressing hair each day at 5 a.m., breaking only to fetch cappuccinos and lattes at the Starbucks at First and Market for himself and bleary-eyed clients.
“A lot of my clients are totally upset about this – I know that one of them actually wrote Starbucks' corporate office,” Brandler said. “Everyone is going to miss it.”
Sharpe, who said he goes to the Starbucks at First and Market up to three times a day, said each store has its own identity and a unique following. Sharpe, Brandler and other customers singled out their favorite baristas: Stan, the cheery retiree with the Bronx accent. Justin, nicknamed “Poodle,” the fresh-faced, amiable kid. Amber, the always-helpful store manager.
“I go to a lot of different Starbucks while I'm on my job, and this one has the best employees by far,” said Sharpe, who vowed not to transfer his allegiance to the Starbucks on Fourth and Market, in part because it is frequented by homeless people.
Sharpe jerked his head toward a store half a block away, an It's A Grind coffee shop on the corner of First and G.
“Unfortunately, I will have to go to that,” he said.
Nearby, at the Starbucks at Fourth and Market, regular clients Paul Harbin, who lives at the San Diego Rescue Mission, and Anne O'Dwyer, a resident at the nearby Lions Community Manor, a residence for low-income elderly, were pleased that their favorite coffee haunt dodged the bullet.
The two friends sunned themselves on the patio, where a couple of $1.60 regular Tall Starbucks can be stretched over two hours of conversation.
“The manager here is a sweetheart. She really knows her customers,” said Harbin, 68. “If they closed this one, I'd stop going to Starbucks.”
Penni Crabtree: (619) 293-1237; penni.crabtree@uniontrib.com
