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By Michelle Wagner
Starbucks, the popular Seattle-based coffee company, is slated to open a store in The Marketplace late next month.
Renovations are under way at the far west side of the shopping center in Southern Shores to accommodate the store, according to Tracey Burris of Independence Construction of Virginia Beach.
The store's grand opening is scheduled for May 23.
Independence Construction is overseeing renovation for the store, which will be about 1,700 square feet, Burris said.
Starbucks will be located in a space where there used to be a movie theater. The 5,000-square-foot area has been divided into three retail spaces.
Since a construction worker was killed during renovations to the space last year, it has been torn down and rebuilt.
The Southern Shores Town Council approved a conditional use permit for a Starbucks late last year, but at the time the company had not submitted plans or applied for a building permit.
Next to the Starbucks is
Rita's, a custard shop, and on the east side is Movie Gallery, a movie rental store. The shopping center is near milepost 1 on U.S. 158.
This is the first Starbucks on the Outer Banks. The company, which has stores worldwide, also has stores in the Hampton Roads area.
Starbucks is the latest national chain to make a presence on the Outer Banks. Dunkin' Donuts also is planning to open outlets.
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Starbucks!!! oh no -- it's
Starbucks!!! oh no -- it's the end of the world as we know it! this was a nice place until those crazy Wrights started coming here...
There went the neighborhood...
Corolla and Duck are awesome, beautiful, inspiring and still retain an aroma of their original quaintness and historicity. To see Starbucks pry their way into that market is indeed heartbreaking.
I didn't know that about the negative anti-theological comments on their cups (as is mentioned in the quote below). I never liked Starbucks because I think their $4 coffee is a massive, over-priced rip-off. Being raised by parents who lived through the depression, I have a moral objection to paying $4+ for a product that costs the company a few pennies to produce and leaves behind an over-abundance of trash (disposable cups and stirrers).
Rose Thornton
All right!
So long OBX. Hello commercialization: box stores, fast food joints, trendy coffee shops, over priced hotel rooms and souvenirs made in China!
Mixed feelings...
I've got mixed feelings on this...on one hand, I understand the frustration with another national chain coming to the Outer Banks. But on the other, the Outer Banks is still a great place to be. We're not comparable to Myrtle Beach or Virginia Beach by most metrics. I understand that it's not what it used to be--but then nothing is.
As an additional note, the restoration of the Corolla historic village is, as I understand it, a privately funded endeavor with no assistance from local or state government. There are folks there who protect the heritage and history of the area.
It's not the same
It's not the same anymore. When I went there, I usually headed to Jockey's Ridge, that 50s place in Manteo (I can't remember its name; I hope it's still there), the Aquarium. I remember when U.S. 158 was really a bypass in the sense that there was really nothing on it. Last time I was there, I didn't recognize Nags Head at all. It's such a shame.
another sad beach story....
my family has been going to the N. other Banks since before I was born.... we have video of me at 18 months old at my family's Whalehead Beach house as it was being built and as my parents tape a 360 panaorama, there is NOTHING in sight besides one or two little cottages off in the far distance. Those days were soon to end... first it was a food lion, then a burger king and now a Harris Teeter & nasty Wings for heaven's sake. Try going to Corolla now and it's absolutely disgusting. The whole Starbucks thing doesn't surprise me in the least. The Outer Banks is on its way to becoming (or already has become) just another Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach, and honestly, who could be proud of that?
At least Corolla had the smart move of restoring the old village. I spend more time there than anywhere else when we vacation there now.
God-less (A-theos) Starbucks
I will not be the only person not ever attending Starbucks. All Christians should stand strong and continue to boycott this company. Recall that Starbucks refused to apologize or pull the cups that were offensive to our faith. Perhaps if it was Islam it would be different, or buddha, or new-age, etc. Here's some of their quotes on cups you will pay for at Starbucks:
1. "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."
2."Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell."
Uniqueness
The OBX has lost it's originality. Taking a vacation there now will be just like staying at home; traffic congestion, national chains and cheaply built expensive houses, one on top of another. Sad, truly sad.