HANCOCK COUNTY — Local coffee lovers got a real caffeine boost over the past couple of days when two new Starbucks opened up in the county, with a third new Starbucks pending. While having more options may be good news for people who frequent such establishments, some are concerned the international chain might put the squeeze on local shop owners who could find it hard to compete.
The newest Starbuck cafe opened this month in Greenfield at 2732 North State Street, just north of I-70 near Elanco. It is the second recent Starbucks project in Greenfield and the third Starbucks within the Greenfield city limits. The third Starbucks under construction at 1474 N. State Street is a 2,540-square-foot facility that was originally scheduled to open in July. It sits just south of McDonald’s. The other Starbucks is located at the intersection of Ind. 9 and New Road.
In New Palestine, officials with Starbucks signed a deal with Tharp Realty and built an establishment which officially opened Monday. The structure is located near the intersection of U.S. 52 and CR South 600W (Mt. Comfort Road). The coffee shop is located behind Taco Bell and west of Tony D’s Steakhouse. The specially designed Starbucks building is 2,540 square feet. Previously, all stores were 2,225 feet.
The owners and operators of The Confection Connection Cafe and Bakery, 1917 Melody Lane, Greenfield, noticed all the Starbucks going in locally and are somewhat concerned.
“I’m not sure why they’ve opened so many here and why they’ve opened so many of the Starbucks so close together,” store owner and manager Kenrda Humble said.
Humble and her son and daughter in-law operate the small local business, which offers coffee and all kinds of bakery products.
“We don’t have exactly everything that a Starbucks has, but we make some really great coffee drinks and cupcakes and other things,” Humble said. “I think because we do offer more specialty things we’ve been blessed, and so far our customers have been good to us. I feel like they may have opened the Starbucks, the one by I-70, because of the Elanco building (2500 Innovation Way, Greenfield) being back there and for the interstate traffic heading west.”
Humble noted that while they have good products, they’re not standing pat. They’re bringing in new recipes and working hard to please the consumer.
“I think that will help,” Humble said. “We’re just gonna keep chugging along at this point and hope and pray for the best.”
When officials in the Town of New Palestine posted that the new Starbucks there would be opening Monday, over 150 local residents posted comments saying they feared it would run a couple of the local shops like Barrel Racing Baristas, 4346 S 500W, New Palestine out of business.
New Palestine council vice president Bill Niemier is on the leadership team of Tharp Realty, the company who owns the land and built the Starbucks building and has leased it to Starbucks. He said the company wanted to create a gathering place for the community and build a one-of-a-kind coffee shop and thinks they did that.
“I’ve heard the same concerns that local businesses may suffer, but I think the Starbucks will be a great addition to the community and this is something this community has wanted for over a decade,” Niemier said. “They’re going to be supportive of local causes, and I do believe there are enough people in the community to support both the larger and local shops.”
Jodi Petro is the owner of Barrel Racing Baristas and said she plans to do everything in her power to keep business going, even though she is somewhat concerned.
“This week, we decided to do a ‘buy one get one free drink’ for this week only to try to compete with their opening-week traffic,” Petro said. “We’re taking care to make sure we continue to serve with excellence and produce our locally roasted beans.”
Petro noted her business uses all natural ingredients, no preservatives and real cane sugar as well as 100 percent fresh fruit in their refresher drinks, and she’s hoping its things like that coupled with the local community work she does that will keep the consumers happy with their products.
“We also offer muffins and pastries and our lunch sandwiches are good sellers for us and we think that will continue,” Petro said. “We’re a local family who relies on and is thankful to the community for the support and we offer different things than a Starbucks and while we’re small, we strive to serve with excellence.”
At the Hitherto Coffee and Gaming Parlor, 1558 N State St., Greenfield, in the Green Meadows Shopping Center, Kevin Kerkhof is the owner and said Starbucks has kind of their own market just like his shop does.
“We kind of pride our self on local items with higher quality,” Kerkhof said. “Our base customers I don’t think would go there to a place like Starbucks because we offer so much more here.”
Kerkhof noted he and his staff pride their shop on the experience at the Parlor.
“We’re not a cookie-cutter chain,” Kerkhof said. “We’re not concerned with them popping up at all, but we do know it’s been hard for everybody out there, but thankfully for us a lot of new people have been finding us and we’re seeing some growth and we have a strong community which we appreciate.”
