The Dobbin Road Starbucks closed Tuesday. Tomorrow it will reopen in a new building across the street. The staff will be the same and so will the coffee but it will be different. For one, I won’t call it Laptop Alley anymore.
The old Dobbin Starbucks space was very linear, about three times as long as it was wide. To get to the counter you passed through a narrow seating area that always seemed full of people on laptops. It was Columbias Laptopistan.
The new space is over a thousand square feet smaller, though it does have a drive thru window. Personally, as an acknowledged coffee shop person, I don’t see that as an improvement.
I’ll likely drop in tomorrow morning to check it out. I’m hoping that it retains at least some of the vibe of the old place. Familiar faces behind the counter will help.
And speaking of Starbucks...the Worst Busiest Starbucks in HoCo recently got a makeover. It wasn’t completed the last time I was over there but it looked like they were trying to accommodate more solo patrons by replacing tables with communal counters. I’d be interested in hearing what To2C readers think about it.
Anyone?
