Closed

 

8/17/22 I drank my cold brew at home on my own back deck because
 the outdoor tables at the Wedgwood store aren't nearly as scenic.

I rarely sketch my cups of coffee, but on this afternoon, I felt compelled: I had to go to Wedgwood to get this cold brew because my favorite Starbucks in the Roosevelt neighborhood had closed. There was nothing special about that Starbucks (and I spend more time and money at independent coffee shops anyway), but the one at 65th and Roosevelt was in the same strip mall as my pharmacy and a Daiso store, and right above Whole Foods, so it was a convenient stop when I had errands.

More significant is that the Roosevelt Starbucks is where I made many sketches from its patio tables. The patio was especially convenient in the middle of a busy day when I didn’t have much time to sketch, but I could take a quick break between appointments.

During the first COVID summer, feeling a need to do something “normal” again, I went to my familiar Roosevelt Starbucks one day. Though not without some anxiety, I had hoped to sketch out on the patio. I was surprised to see that all the seating had been removed, both inside and out. I would have thought that it was an ideal time to offer outdoor seating.

A year later, post-vax and feeling relatively comfortable again, I went to the same Starbucks, looking forward to sketching on the patio. I was disappointed to see that the patio tables had not been replaced. The store had become a grab-and-go location only, I was told, and seating would not resume for the foreseeable future. That was the handwriting on the wall.

I had read recent news about several local Starbucks locations closing, but I didn’t see “my” store listed, so the closure had caught me by surprise. It’s just a Starbucks, and there are certainly plenty more nearby (though none quite so convenient), but long-time habits and routines are hard to let go of.