Photo by Christopher Irwin.
Gradually, Starbucks has been closing stores on the Upper West Side, but it now looks like the company is expanding again — if only slightly.
Building permits indicate that two new stores will open — one on Columbus Avenue and one on the edge of the neighborhood.
An 823-square-foot location is being built out at 159 Columbus Avenue between 67th and 68th Street, which appears to be the former GNC store. “This most likely will be a pickup location given its size,” notes our tipster, Upper West Sider. Pickup-only stores are a new concept, and they’re geared to online-ordering. “The idea is that the store’s primary focus is serving customers who order ahead on the app,” Delish reported. “To be clear, customers can order from a barista in the store, CNN Business reports, but it’s not encouraged; baristas will help customers download and learn to navigate the app.”
A 1,984-square-foot location will be opening somewhere within 240 Central Park South, just off of Columbus Circle at 59th Street. Upper West Sider “can’t figure out which space it is taking (the old Maison Kayser, FedEx, and Aroma locations are still empty).”
Meanwhile, the Starbucks at 70th and Amsterdam is suddenly closed and appears to be cleared out, says tipster Lola. No one was answering the phone at the store on Sunday, though this could be a temporary thing. The mobile app was also not working. Update: we hear this location has reopened.
Stopped by the 70th and Amsterdam store a couple of hours ago. Dark, locked, no sign. I thought perhaps there had been a Covid outbreak.
Seriously folks. Make your own coffee. Cost per day is less than $1 for an entire pot, including sugar and milk. A large starbuck$ is over $4.
As one who does not drink coffee, I agree that I do not understand people who literally cannot function without coffee (including members of my close family), and even more so those who are living paycheck to paycheck yet insist on their daily dose of this luxury good.
If you can afford it, it is not for me to tell you how to spend your money, but there are so many who can’t yet still waste money.
I also don’t understand those who claim they need the dosage of caffeine to get them going in the morning, yet drink the exact same caffeinated coffee right before bedtime as they claim it helps them go to sleep?
People are different from each other and you, Leon.
Brewster: I do make my own coffee. I get the beans at Starbucks.
Why are you telling people how to spend their money? Surely one can make it at home cheaper but is that always the point? I swear every article on here is filled with people that say they can make it cheaper at home. Cool, enjoy being a hermit….
I make Starbucks at home. Best of both worlds.
Really Buddy?
Your comment is the first I ever read telling us that “every article on here is filled with people that say they can make it cheaper at home”. Funny – this is the first time I read here that making anything at home is cheaper.
Try reading the comments section for anything related to restaurant openings.
I dont think people go to Starbucks to save money.
Forget cheaper, but definitely much more comfortable.
I have three coffee machines at home ( Keurig and two
Nespresso ) and can’t imagine going somewhere ordering and waiting for my coffee. As for the quality and taste if you use the right beans as good as Starbucks anytime
They don’t go to Star$$$ to get good coffee either
Ha! So true. In Seattle, locals call it “Charbucks.”
I’d rather call it Fourbucks.
SB at 87th and Lexington shut down recently as well.
Covid-19 and aftermath may be putting gas on SB rethinking its stores; moving away from the “Friends” sort of coffee shop that encourages people to lounge about for hours (and not order much if anything), towards smaller and efficient places that are geared mainly to selling drinks and food.
Something had to give; SB wasn’t being compensated for being in the “home away from home”, “home office”, library, after school center, senior center, coffee klatsch business.
I remember when Starbucks was built on the corner of Lex and 87th, right next to Barnes & Noble (which is also gone). It took over the spot of a small home goods store and eliminated the local coffee shops that had been there for years (there was a brief and pointless boycott). HMV was on the opposite corner. That neighborhood was never the same again.
So sad about that block on Amsterdam. Fights in the McDonald’s, Pokebab went under, mattresses and trash lying around, and now no Starbucks.
The Paris Baguette on that block also closed a few months ago.
They closed the Starbucks on Broadway and West 93rd Street about 2 months ago, a real shock. But the location in the Lyric building (next to NYSC) is still open. For now.
The remaining Starbucks took out all its seating so there goes after school tutoring that mostly occurred there.
Tbh I think there are too many starbucks too close to each other anyway. It’s not like their coffee tastes good. I’d much rather prefer a smaller local joint with more attention paid to actually making good coffee.
Do you not think that Starbucks has heard all the complaints about their ‘bad’ coffee? How do suppose they have been so successful and grown their business despite this general opinion? People want the Starbucks experience more than the product. So to avoid the basic bad coffee, they buy more expensive coffee beverages that mask the bad taste. Stand in a Starbucks and observe what people order.
The Starbucks at 70th and Amsterdam is open again
I live on the same street as the Starbucks on 70th and Broadway next to McDonald’s and it was open today(It was closed over the weekend so who knows what was going on!) I stopped in to talk to the manager about the piles of garbage and open bags that have been sitting outside for at least a week and of course it was a blah blah blah blame game. I offered to come clean it up if they could tell me where to put it but it wasn’t an option.
Standing in front of Starbucks 70th and Amsterdam at 2pm Monday. Open
Speaking of closings, is Talbots on Broadway and 83 St closing? There is a sign on the door that says temporarily closed but when I passed by it looked like people were assembling merchandise and moving shelves in a manner that looked like it was preparing to close.
I hope they’re not closing! I could have sworn they were open when I walked by yesterday. I called just now and got the usual recorded message. Plz post if you have any updates and I’ll do the same. 🙂
Starbucks is The McDonalds of the Millennial Generation and younger in my opinion.. My grandson, 21 has been a Starbucks customer since high school. Our nearest closed last March as their primary customers were Columbia University Students.
I felt “at home”/in Starbucks UK All so familiar and comforting plus coffee cups from Across The Pond.
Best wishes to Bucks and Mickey D ‘s
I saw Sweetgreen personnel in and near the building next to 159 Columbus (former Unleashed). A few of them where holding what looked like architect’s drawings.
The Starbucks on 70 street and Broadway is open. They had a water problem in the store but everything is back. They are not closing that locations.
Has anyone reported that the SB at 93rd & Bdway closed. May have happened a while ago and I just missed it.
I think the Starbucks on 93 and Broadway closed too
Starbucks at 70th St is open today Tuesday Dec 28.
I can’t weigh in with much about Starbucks; I’m a tea drinker. And while I did get tea a long time ago at SBs I prefer the quieter ambiance of a small tea shop. I am amazed watching people lining up for coffee.
The $10,000 worth of Starbucks shares I bought in 1996–bought after I had spent two years enjoying expensive Starbucks coffee on a regular basis–helped soften the blow of the money I spent on expensive coffee. THAT, my friends, is the best of both worlds!