The Carlsbad Village Starbucks location shut down on September 28th, as well as many other Starbucks locations nationwide. This is an opportunity for other local cafes to gain more business with less corporate competition.
Senior Samantha Slavitt has been going to the Starbucks in the Village ever since she moved from Northern California during her freshman year. Whenever Slavitt would go to the Village, she would stop by the Starbucks, but just a few weeks ago was surprised to find it shut down.
“I didn’t even hear about it closing but I saw it and I was really disappointed because I went there so much,” Slavitt said. “There’s nothing on the building and there was brown [wrapping] all over the windows.”
Sophomore Kelsey Joyce liked the location of the Starbucks, since it was convenient for her to go there after a beach day with her friends. Joyce believes it was a more affordable, trouble-free option compared to the other cafes in the village that are more costly and have strict business hours.
“I was really surprised because I’m not sure why they would close that specific store,” Joyce said. “I feel like it did really well in business, by making a good profit and was a good addition to the Village.”
Sophomore Adiah Levison went to the Starbucks in the Village every week to get her go-to drinks; a pink drink for the summer, and a crème brûlée latte for the winter. She believes that the closure of the Starbucks is an opportunity for the Village to make room for more small businesses.
“I liked how it was right next to the beach, it was especially my go-to place,” Levison said. “Now I’ll just go to Froglanders or Aloha Ice.”
Slavitt now plans to go to other cafes in the village like Revolution Roasters, Cafe Elysa and Café Topes. However, she believes now that Starbucks is gone, no other cafe will be equally convenient.
“A lot of people go from the beach to the village, where Starbucks is and they want to get a drink,” Slavitt said. “There’s other drink places like boba [shops] but not everyone likes boba so I think the Starbucks being gone will affect daily life of the village a lot.”
Since Joyce thought the closing of the Starbucks didn’t make sense due to the business it brought to the village, she hopes to see another cafe replace the lot. That Starbucks has been a part of her life over the past six years.
“The Village isn’t focusing on small businesses because there’s been a lot more development and chains than there was when I was younger,” Joyce said. “They’re moving towards bigger businesses in Carlsbad.”
Slavitt believes that Carlsbad is trying to become more of a connected community, by trying to focus on more local businesses like the Strawberry Shack and Beach City Smoothies. Due to the smaller lot space, she thinks that there will be limited store options to replace it.
“I feel like it’s good there changing things up but it will have some negative [effects] since so many people went or liked the Starbucks in the Village,” Slavitt said. “But having more local places usually means better tasting food and drinks.”
Overall, many positives and negatives have been the outcome of the closure of Starbucks. For example, students like Joyce and Slavitt made memories and cherished the convenience of Starbucks. However, local businesses in the Village will deal with less corporate competition.
“I think Carlsbad is constantly changing and updating their stores, especially in the Village with the new developments,” Joyce said. “I believe that they’re trying to move forward and constantly move as a community.”
