What a Starbucks Free Downtown Really Says about Jacksonville, Fla.

By Kendall Brunson

The news was devastating. I actually didn’t believe it at first. I was just trying to make small talk with my barista at Starbucks, but a simple, “Hey, how’s it going?” turned into, “I just found out we’re closing at the end of the month.”

Yes, Starbucks will be vacating The Landing in Downtown Jacksonville, Fla. at the end of their lease this April, according to Janice Lowe, general manager of The Landing. Lowe also said that Starbucks had business, but “Starbucks has a lot of expenses. I imagine they'd just tell you that they're not doing the numbers they need to for a corporate store." And essentially, that is what they said.

A Starbucks spokesperson issued the statement, "We continually review and evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio. We use several criteria to identify stores for closure as a standard course of business."

What this really means is that Corporate in Seattle, Wash. is looking at Jacksonville, Fla. and shrugging their arms saying, yeah, that downtown is kind of lame. What metropolitan downtown does not have nor sustain a Starbucks? Atlanta? Has a few. Charlotte, N.C.? Check. Lake City, Fla.? Yes. Jacksonville? Not anymore.

Chicago alderman, Leslie Hairston, told the Chicago Tribune in 2004 that, “You are officially a neighborhood when you get a Starbucks.” So does that mean that downtown Jacksonville is no longer a neighborhood?

Most Jacksonville suburban neighborhoods support at least one Starbucks; however, the Starbucks attached to a main downtown attraction with a live music venue that is surrounded by large buildings filled with businesses and corporations cannot fiscally drive a Starbucks. Don’t forget to factor in the people residing in the four condo and apartment buildings nearby. And the problem is not with Starbucks. The company continues to grow. CEO Howard Schultz told Bloomberg in an interview that Starbucks plans to open 100 new stores in the U.S. in 2011.

The issue is bigger than a massive group of un-caffeinated lawyers and businessmen and women wandering around Downtown Jacksonville like crazed zombies in search of a latte fix; the issue is that nationwide and worldwide corporations are viewing downtown Jacksonville as a city that is not going anywhere or developing. What does this mean for the future of Downtown urban development? If Starbucks can’t make it Downtown, then who can?  

Kendall Brunson is freelance copywriter based in Jacksonville, Fla. Feel free to email her at kendall@kendallbrunson.com