A proposed Kroger Marketplace store at Ohio 72 would also include a Starbucks location if it moves forward. It’s currently in the rezoning and annexation process.
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The Starbucks won’t offer the chain’s full menu, including frappucinos or food items. It will offer drip coffee and espresso drinks.
It will be open 24 hours with hotel employees who will train as baristas. It will be open to the public as well as hotel guests and will be located near Mela Urban Bistro, the restaurant inside the Marriott. The hotel recently also added an outdoor patio and outdoor bar for guests.
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“We went on a sales blitz about a month ago and we got just a huge reaction from the local community asking if this was going to be open to the public and it will be,” Nichols said of the Starbucks.
Duke Level, who owns Un Mundo with his wife Maureen, said the impact from a nearby Starbucks isn't too concerning because their business model is different. The biggest change, he said, is some hotel guests who may have walked across the street to Un Mundo might buy their coffee at the hotel.
But the hotel has often directed guests to Un Mundo when they asked for locally owned options, he said. Level is from the Seattle area and said he’s familiar with chains like Seattle’s Best and Starbucks.
“Starbucks has a place but we have a solid local base of support from people who like who we are and what we do,” Level said. “We are a locally owned and independently owned business, and there’s not very many of those here in the city. It’s a contrast. We’re different from Starbucks but we hope it goes well for them.”
Un Mundo opened downtown about six years ago and Level was hired to run the business as a non-profit for the Children’s Rescue Center. But that organization decided to get out of the coffee business, so Level and his wife bought the shop.
The business is no longer a non-profit but still regularly donates to various charities. On Sunday, Sept. 11, all sales will be donated to provide assistance to missionaries working in Russia.
“We’re a place for people to connect and communicate and build relationships and I don’t know if Starbucks will be able to supply that,” Level said.
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