{"id":74583,"date":"2020-01-27T15:14:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T22:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangos-downtown-starbucks-will-close\/"},"modified":"2020-01-27T22:14:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T22:14:43","slug":"durangos-downtown-starbucks-will-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durangos-downtown-starbucks-will-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango\u2019s downtown Starbucks will close"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango\u2019s
Durango\u2019s downtown Starbucks will close this spring, company officials announced Monday.<\/span>Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Starbucks on Main Avenue in downtown Durango is closing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of Starbucks standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio,\u201d a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement Monday. \u201cAfter careful consideration, we\u2019ve determined it is best to close the store \u2026 this spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starbucks has been located at 558 Main Ave. since opening in 2005, which at the time, was the first location in Durango for the popular chain coffee shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs difficult as this is, we must make the right business decisions for the sake of Starbucks long-term growth,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be a member of the Durango community and appreciate the outpouring of support we\u2019ve seen from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson added that any employees working at the store will have the opportunity to transfer to other locations in the area. There are four other Starbucks locations in Durango: City Markets south and north, Albertsons and a standalone shop at 2817 Main Ave.<\/p>\n

Amy Jackson, the property manager for Rio Grande Properties and Lands, which is the landlord for the Starbucks\u2019 downtown location, said she recently received a letter from Starbucks\u2019 corporate office that said the coffee shop will not renew its lease this year, which expires May 15.<\/p>\n

Since news has spread about the coffee shop closing, a petition has circulated trying to save the downtown location<\/a>. As of Monday morning, more than 250 people had signed it.<\/p>\n

The petition, started by Bayfield resident Katie Barthel, says Starbucks is closing because of issues with Rio Grande Properties and Lands over needed repairs on the building.<\/p>\n

Jackson said that is not true, and after she received the letter from corporate, she even tried to work with Starbucks to find a way to keep the location open. The Starbucks spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking follow-up information.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love having Starbucks there,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI really took a hit when they said they were leaving. It hurt me a little bit. But it\u2019s business, and they have their reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efforts to reach Barthel for comment for this story were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Tim Walsworth, director of the Durango Business Improvement District, said the news was a bit of a shock, especially because the location always seemed crowded and was located right next to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which brings in thousands of tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surprising because you don\u2019t see a Starbucks close very often,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of factors that go into a business staying open or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Durango\u2019s
Durango\u2019s downtown Starbucks near the corner of Main Avenue and College Drive will close this spring, company officials said Monday.<\/span>Jonathan Romeo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Starbucks has had a strange relationship with Durango over the years.<\/p>\n

The month Starbucks opened, the store was subject to an onslaught of vandalism from people resistant to the corporate coffee giant.<\/p>\n

First, someone urinated on the store\u2019s window and put gum on the lock of the front door. Two days later, the same window was spray-painted with obscenities and the phrase: \u201cgo back to Seattle you corporate scum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, someone shattered the store\u2019s front window with a rock.<\/p>\n

But slowly, Starbucks earned its place in Durango, becoming a favorite coffee shop for many, Jackson said. The petition to keep it open is further proof people have come to embrace the chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ironic to think about,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

And despite Starbucks dominance, local Durango coffee shops have thrived. In downtown Durango alone, there\u2019s a number of locally owned coffee shops, including Magpie\u2019s Newsstand Cafe, Durango Coffee Co., Hermosa Coffee Roasters, Animas Chocolate & Coffee Co. and Durango Joe\u2019s, to name a few.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a ton of great local coffee options downtown to get your coffee fix,\u201d Walsworth said.<\/p>\n

Jackson said she will look for a new tenant in the prime downtown location in coming weeks.<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corporate officials say it\u2019s a business decision<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[314,11],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-downtown-durango","tag-economy-general"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74583"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}