The opening of a Starbucks across the street from Harker has influenced the daily routines of a diverse group of students, faculty, and baristas.

Situated at the corner of the Lion Food Center, also home to Tapioca Express and Burger King, the new Starbucks officially opened on Aug. 28, to the delight of students and faculty alike. The coffee shop, within two-minutes’ walking distance, provides an advantageous location for coffee runs, especially considering that the next closest Starbucks is almost a mile from Harker.

According to baristas, the new Starbucks receives approximately 450-550 customers per day with a rough average revenue of $2000-$4000.

“The new opening of Starbucks is really convenient because after school is done you can walk across the street and hang out with your friends and relax,” said Abha Patkar (9), who visits the new Starbucks roughly four times a week.

Many students besides Abha enjoy the new Starbucks; droves of students congregate at the store to relax or study every day after school, although Fridays see significantly more customers.

“It’s made me very unhealthy because I go there more than once a week,” Lindsey Mitchell (10) said. “That’s more than I went to the other one because it’s farther away.”

The Starbucks opening has also caused changes around campus. Advisories often walk across the street to buy coffee, and students often walk to and from class with drinks.

“Even when I’m throwing something away, I always see something from Starbucks,” Ajay Chitkara (12) said. “I feel like it affected the whole lifestyle of school and how everyone relies on Starbucks to give them boosts.”

The store has had an impact on everyone, even for those who do not enjoy Starbucks coffee.

“Tapex and Burger King are less busy, and that’s nice,” Sharad Chandra (9) said.

Starbucks may be a favorite of students, but faculty and staff are also fans of the new store, enjoying its accessibility and relaxing atmosphere.

“Having the Starbucks across the street has allowed me to work more efficiently by giving me access to coffee,” Upper School Club Coordinator Eric Kallbrier said, who buys coffee at Starbucks at least twice a day. “And what’s great is that they brought in a lot of staff from other Starbucks that I already know. It’s like a big Starbucks family, and now they’re part of our Harker family.”

Starbucks provides not only a convenient coffee vendor for faculty, but also an opportunity to expand educational opportunities.

“I actually plan to, if [Upper School Division Head, Butch Keller] will allow me, hold a few classes at Starbucks with my seniors, who are writing poetry and fiction,” Alexandra Rosenboom, Upper School English teacher, said. “So it could change my life quite a bit.”

Others found that the new Starbucks can improve extracurricular activities as well.

“It made it really easy to do coffee runs during the Nichols Debate Invitational,” Upper School Assistant Debate Coach Carol Green said.

Both students and faculty appreciate the new Starbucks, but the increasing flow of customers to the cafe has also influenced the lives of the baristas.

“It’s very fast-paced. When we do get a lot of Harker kids, it’s just one of those things where it’s like go, go, go, go, go, to get them out, to get them back to the school,” Starbucks barista Robert David Gonzales II said. “It’s just been super energetic, super positive. Nothing too crazy I can think of.”

Starbucks usually has a mixed group of Harker customers, with teachers trickling in around lunch and students coming as a wave right after school.

Baristas have noted that students tend to not know what they want when they get in line and try too hard to order in groups.

“They all want to order drinks at the same time, then they send everything on separate transactions,” Gonzales said. “For ordering your drinks I’d really just wait for the next person in line or the next register person to open up.”

Perhaps because of their difficulty ordering, Starbucks customers worldwide have expressed interest in Starbucks delivery, but according to Gonzales, any form of distribution is a long way off.

“Not right now in this area,” he said.  “A lot of [the drinks ordered] are frappuccinos, and frappuccinos have an expiration date.”

Still, with the opening of the new Starbucks, the inconvenience of going to the store lessons, as demonstrated by the ever-lengthening lines of students and faculty.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on October 17, 2014.