On July 8, Starbucks in Talley Student Union reopened upon completion of renovations that took place over the summer. Where there was once a small storefront closed off on both sides by glass walls, there is now an open space that is connected to the bookstore that neighbors it.
Kitty Lewis, the director of food service for NC State, spoke about the additions to the Talley Starbucks.
“Our goal for the new Starbucks is, number one, we have a little bit more space so the employees can move freely back there,” Lewis said. “Before, we had a little 2-by-2 handoff plane; now, we have that whole end that’s a 4-by-4 where people can find their orders and we’ll be able to put orders together … It is more open and it won’t seem like everybody is in a little fishbowl trying to stay in one place waiting for their drinks.”
Jennifer Gilmore, the director of marketing and communication for Campus Enterprises, spoke about how she hopes the new renovations will help with the wait created by the online ordering system Tapingo. The longer counter space will allow for employees to have more space to mix drinks and move around as well as be able to put more drinks out for customers to pick up.
Lewis spoke more about how the renovations have been received by customers so far.
“We’ve had a lot of people come in looking,” Lewis said. “They really love the look. It’s more spacious, it’s brighter, it’s cleaner. It just changes the overall feel of the place; it’s a more comfortable feel. We do not have the pushes right now; we really won’t see a big influx of business until the students come back. So move-in weekend, we are hoping that the lines will be pushed and will move a little bit better.”
The renovations have also caused some shifts to be made in the bookstore that neighbors it. Gilmore said the Starbucks was able to spread farther out because a decision was made to remove the trade books from the bookstore and move the electronics to neighbor the Starbucks. She said the changes to the bookstore were made due to demand from students, parents and alumni.
With the renovations to the Starbucks, there is also the addition of the Nitro Cold Brew poured from a tap that was added to the longer counter space.
Directions, hours and other information about the Talley Starbucks can be found here.
The newly renovated Starbucks at Talley Student Union opened back up on Monday, July 8th, 2019. The renovation added extra counter space to allow for larger service of customers and added the new Nitro Cold Brew Coffee station.
