As coffee chain builds new stores, the old locations are repurposed

A new Starbucks opened in Merced in May.  This one is the first beverage retailer in the new commercial development at the corner of G Street and Yosemite Avenue.

With the opening of the new location, the company closed the familiar shop just down the road at Yosemite and Paulson.

This is not the first time the coffee chain has moved to a bigger, and some might add a better, location.

The store on Olive Avenue closed a few years ago and emerged in a bigger spot in the CVS commercial zone a block west of the former location on Olive Avenue.

In both cases, the public area inside the new stores exceeds the available space in the previous location.  Customers have more room for conversation, smartphone checking, and beverage drinking common in any coffee shop.

Both newer locations have drive-through service.  It’s common to see a line of vehicles idling away their nearly six-dollar gallons of gas as they order and wait on their five-dollar-plus cups of specialty coffee.

Merced’s Main Street welcomed the Seattle-based coffee retailer nearly two decades ago in what many considered a prime location: next door to the movie multiplex.  

That spot served downtown coffee drinkers for about fifteen years until a newer shop opened on 16th Street closer to the highway 99 exit. This location also has a drive-through window that the Main Street spot did not have.

A couple of years ago, a Starbucks opened on West Main Street.  That one also has a drive-through.

So it’s clear that the big game-changer for the company is moving to locations where a drive-through can be built.  

But the spaces vacated by the coffee giant generally don’t stay empty for too long.  Pizza Hut moved across the street on Olive Avenue to take over the former coffee shop spot.  Ironically, the former Pizza Hut location was raised and it is now home to Dutch Brothers Coffee.

The former Main Street Starbucks location next door to the movie theater is now occupied by a locally owned coffee brewer.

There’s no word yet on who will occupy the former coffee shop at the corner of Paulson and Yosemite Avenues.

That spot has a special place in my heart. I spent an hour there every week for about ten years having coffee with a good friend.  That friend passed away earlier this year, so maybe it was a good thing that a once-loved coffee shop should close and move to a new location a couple of blocks away.

Fresh starts are good for all of us.  

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. 

His new book A Bundle of Memories is available at Lulu.com.