Would Pedestrian Access Have Saved This Starbuck’s?
As we’ve all heard Starbuck’s is closing some 600 under performing stores nationwide. A number of those are in our region. One is still very new.
It was just in October of last year that I posted about a suburban-style strip center being built with an adjacent Starbuck’s drive-thru (see St. Louis’ Leaders Critical of New Urbanism while Supporting Sprawl Development in Old Urbanist Areas).
And it is closing because it is under performing. I guess that means cars are not lined up in the drive-through lane wasting $4/gal gas. Good.  7th & Russell is on the edge of Soulard and hardly the right spot for a drive-thru. It was only after I pointed out the lack of an ADA required access route that the strip center got such a connection to the public sidewalk.
The Starbuck’s, however, opened without providing the federally required access route. Why should it, they’ve managed to open other locations in the city and county without meeting this ADA requirement (see post with examples).
I doubt that providing a sidewalk from the public sidewalk to their front door would have saved this location from closure but it couldn’t have hurt. It would also make the site compliant so that the next occupant could easily accept walk-in traffic from the adjacent dense neighborhood.
St. Louis was one of the metro areas targeted by Starbucks for concentrated growth, so 16 or 17 stores closing may seem excessive, but not really if looked at from that stand point.
I liked that particular store when I visited Soulard on weekends.
At least we aren’t like some cities, Niagra Falls comes to mind where almost every hotel has a Starbucks in their lobby. I wish they would have closed a few of those too! I also don’t see why they opened one just a few blocks away from the one in the CWE, but hey!
Starbucks is still a great company to invest in, patronize, and they offer part timers benefits, and there will still be store openings, just not as many as fast.
I believe they gained an exemption to sidewalks as the St L Bldg Dept has determined that because of American’s unstoppable obesity, caused significantly by supremo latte coffee, the necessary hi-strength concrete would have caused an undue financial burden on the company.
Personally I commend the Bldg Dept for its keen insight.
Starbucks is for fairies. Real coffee is served black.
No.
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Actually, a better location, on the other side of the street, would’ve made it much more pedestrian friendly. But my guess is they wanted to be on this side, to capture drive-thru traffic from people driving to work downtown.
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Which raises a fundamental question – how conducive is the drive-thru to the Starbuck’s business model, especially for morning commuters? Most folks headed to work are in a hurry, and getting that triple shot no foam vente strawberry iced latte simply takes more time and money than getting basic coffee from McDonald’s or Quik-Trip. Maybe Starbucks just figured out that they DO do better in more pedestrian-oriented environments, where their product is more appreciated?!
The neighboring strip mall seems to be wholly vacant as well.
How long do you think it will be before this strip mall gets torn down? I think a bigger problem that needs to be addressed is the absurd width of 7th/Broadway. Do we really still need a 7 lane avenue through Soulard, or North Florissant, for that matter? The width of 7th Street contributes to the isolation of the land east of it.
Isn’t it amazing how disposable these structures are? Throw it up one year, shut it down the next. With the current rash of retail closings, what alternate use could there be for a build-to-suit Starbucks drive-thru?
I actually really enjoyed this location for what it’s worth. I’d spend about 5 minutes in the drive through line on my way to work some mornings.
7th/Broadway was widened with the Kosciusko Urban Renewal District, I believe.
It does not run through Soulard but rather forms a boundary line between it and the Kosciusko District. Personally I would rather seen urban infill in Kosciusko, but I don’t think we should demolish it. Even though it was a grand failure, it’s still a part of our history and has great buildings like Nooter, which was the first corporate resident of the Kosciusko District.
Its closing because there’s too many stores selling $4 coffee in a weak economy. Doesnt matter if the patrons are walking or driving, because there just aren’t enough of them either way. Check the list of closures and you’ll note that many are in very walkable areas.
Coffee Cartel seems to be doing well.
It is kinda odd these free-standing drive-thru Starbucks are closing. I wonder what will replace them; presumably they’ll just be sub-leased to new tenants (drive-thru check-cashing, anyone?). 😉
Seriously, though, at least the BreadCo (which I do frequent) and part of the strip mall space was created by adapting an existing structure, the old Van Sickle electrical supply company.
Clearly, we’ve overbuilt retail space across the metro area, not just in the city. Kingshighway and Chippewa’s Southtown Centre is just now majority filled, including two pizza places and a military recruiting station; but meanwhile there’s still a vacant former Walgreens across the street, and the old Blockbuster Video is now a beauty supply.
The new Starbucks in the CWE (Laclede and Euclid) also closed, so I don’t think this can be entirely blamed on the use of the space since it is in a mixed use building. Also, it could be argued that there is another Starbucks close by, but as Doug stated, “Coffee Cartel seems to be doing well” as does the Einstein Bagels directly across the street.