BIZNOTE FOLLOWUP: After the Starbucks shutdown

Starbucks is apparently wasting no time dismantling its 25-year Alki store, just hours after its permanent shutdown. Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck just sent this photo of a crew preparing to haul away the signage. The company announced on July 16 that August 11 would be this location’s last day; then yesterday (Friday, August 9), multiple readers sent word they’d spotted a sign posted on the door saying it was closing day as of 6 pm. When contacted, Starbucks claimed the original announcement just had “a typo” with the wrong date (though the same date was provided days and even weeks later to regional media outlets) and that it was always intended to be Friday. No hint yet in permit files of a successor for the space, nor have we found a public for-lease listing yet. Meantime, the Starbucks website still shows a job opening for the now-closed location, dated 12 days after the shutdown announcement.

amy August 10, 2024 (12:57 pm)

They seem to have closed the Avalon/Fauntleroy drive-thru location as well. I noticed the sign had been taken down this morning. Or is that one only temporary for remodeling?

WSB August 10, 2024 (1:08 pm)

That was part of the original announcement we published on July 16.
https://westseattleblog.com/2024/07/biznote-starbucks-closing-alki-store-permanently-and-closing-avalon-store-temporarily/
It’s a temporary closure, as explained in that story.

PDiddy August 10, 2024 (1:11 pm)

That is a prime spot. I wonder what will move in there. Probably a restaurant with a bar similar to Dukes if I were to guess.

Tony August 10, 2024 (2:59 pm)

Definitely a pizza place.
- Scott Collins August 10, 2024 (8:03 pm)
  
  Maybe it Will be a Mexican pizza place so we can double down on overrepresented west seattle cuisines
  - Citizen Joe August 11, 2024 (12:38 am)
    
    Mexican food is hardly over represented in West Seattle; I’ve only found a handful of legit spots. Burger joints on the other hand…
    - Alki Gal August 15, 2024 (5:13 pm)
      
      On the west end of Alki we have Cactus, Fire Tacos, and El Chupacabra all within a few blocks of each other. Not to mention the vendors that pop up along the waterfront path all summer. Pretty sure we are more than set for Mexican food down here.

Love Starbucks August 10, 2024 (1:18 pm)

Starbucks is a great place to meet people I was in Australia Singapore Malaysia Vietnam etc I meet many good people that we became more than friends Best of all I told them I am from Seattle, HQ of Starbucks

Mike August 10, 2024 (5:30 pm)

What?
- Lynne August 11, 2024 (11:51 am)
  
  WSB, please don’t tolerate this kind of behavior.

Sillygoose August 10, 2024 (1:33 pm)

Turn it into low in one apartments. Perfect location.

Tom August 10, 2024 (2:50 pm)

Always wondered what was on top of that space. Is that office space accessed from that unit?

WSB August 10, 2024 (4:55 pm)

https://augustimports.com/contact/

Patrick August 10, 2024 (2:57 pm)

Hopefully a new pizza joint takes over that spot because we need more pizza in WS.

Alki Resident 2 August 10, 2024 (4:36 pm)

I have heard that a small version of Traders Joe’s is coming in. There is a small one like this in Boston and to my understanding it will be a similar version. Will be great for the residents down on the beach to not have to go up to the top of the hill. Will miss Starbucks

WSB August 10, 2024 (5:09 pm)

That would be almost hilarious considering that the first few years of WSB were spent endlessly chasing Trader Joe’s rumors, until they finally settled on the current site. The Boston one to which you’re referring is described as 5,200 sf, which is exactly the size of this space, per KC Parcel Viewer. Alki hasn’t had a market since the one in what’s now the Cactus building (which later had a bodega)
- Pete August 10, 2024 (5:32 pm)
  
  OMG that would be perfect!!!
- WSB August 19, 2024 (4:18 pm)
  
  For the record, I asked TJ’s media folks about this rumor. Spokesperson Nakia Rohde responded, “We are actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country as we hope to open more new neighborhood stores each year. At this time, we do not have a new location confirmed in West Seattle. We list all of the stores that are opening soon on our website.” – TR (watching the permit files of course)
SJ Alki August 11, 2024 (12:33 pm)

TJ’s will never work there. If you look at what works on Alki it’s pretty much all family owned businesses or similar. Dukes is Dukes, spuds is Spuds and are institutions here, Cactus has parking. They are all Seattle based businesses too.
R August 11, 2024 (3:37 pm)

I’ve been telling my partner for months that all Alki needs is a small market grocer. It has everything else!
- Sparky August 12, 2024 (6:44 am)
  
  It had one. It was sort of like the Leschi Market. Closed maybe ten years ago?
  - WSB August 12, 2024 (5:53 pm)
    
    Longer ago than that, Alki had a market in the Cactus space. Can’t remember its name but it was there when we moved here, living on Beach Drive for the first two years, in the early ’90s. While I’m not familiar with Leschi Market, you’re probably referring to Alki Urban Market, which closed quietly in 2017
    https://westseattleblog.com/2017/09/biznotes-supreme-starbucks-alki-urban-market/ (also in the 2820 Alki building)

Bradley August 10, 2024 (5:16 pm)

Bread and Circus??

Cafe / Market fan August 10, 2024 (9:18 pm)

Another Wildwood Market & Eatery please!!!

Kathy August 11, 2024 (1:11 pm)

+1

Citizen Joe August 11, 2024 (12:40 am)

I’m looking forward to a local cafe opening here or a decent brewery/pub. We need more social spots. No more pizza joints, we have enough.

Pauline August 11, 2024 (7:14 am)

That’s too bad as there’s a sense of community there. Hopefully it replaces with another cafe shop…

Gabe August 11, 2024 (11:01 am)

There is just too much seasonality with this location for it to be profitable

Stu August 12, 2024 (8:23 am)

It’s apparent that many are not able to comprehend that the point of so much disappointment in Starbuck’s closing has nothing to do with a brand name. It is the loss of our communities ability to meet on such a large scale on a regular basis. So many seem wrapped up in their own perception of political correctness, or falsely blaming a local generator of jobs on the demise of a long lost basketball team, that they have no room for understanding the source of the Alki’s disappointment. Alki Starbucks was part of a group of iconic community meeting places that sadly are become harder to find. It has nothing to do with a cup of coffee. It’s about an entire community meeting together at a place located in the neighborhood they live in for community conversation. On Alki, Starbuck’s has been subsiduzing our meeting place for a long time. Thank you. Some people’s comments represent a lack of understanding of that, and a lack of tolerance in an increasingly polarized world.

Scarlett August 13, 2024 (10:56 am)

Just for the record, Starbucks makes decisions based on how profitable it will be for the company and it’s shareholders, including subsidizing so-called unprofitable stores – stores where people sit all day with a coffee – to buff their public image. We all know that Starbuck’s provides a common meeting area, a respite sometimes, but in the end, if you think, for example that Starbucks is unfairly stalling efforts to unionize, then you have to make choices and sometimes that means sacrificing convenience for principles. But then the flimsy rationalizations that people spout to avoid real sacrifices in life – I mean real sacrifices where something valuable is given up – is something to behold.

Sorry, comment time is over.