The days are numbered for the only Starbucks in Ocean Beach and many of the locals couldn’t be happier.
A sign in the window reads “On 12/12/2022 at 11:00am, your Starbucks Ocean Beach location at 4994 Newport Avenue … will be permanently closing.”
Don’t expect to find a lot of tears outside.
“I have never stepped foot into that Starbucks,” laughed Lisa Duncan.
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“I grew up here and was here when they protested when they went in,” smiled Lori Ornelas.
Yes, OB residents protested in 2001 to try to stop Starbucks from setting up shop at the corner of Newport and Bacon.
“People in OB want to keep OB non-corporate,” explained Duncan from behind the counter at the OB Hardware store, which has been around for more than a century.
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“You just don’t see anything corporate,” continued Anthony Enricht. “You don’t see anything and everything’s kind of unique in its own way.”
Although Enricht admitted being one of the many customers still shuttling in and out of the OB Starbucks, he also admitted feeling a bit guilty for not patronizing the local cafes.
“I actually kind of do but usually it’s so early in the morning that I don’t think anybody sees me,” he smiled guiltily.
A Starbucks spokesman emailed NBC 7 a statement that said, “We continually evaluate our store portfolio to ensure it’s meeting the needs of our customers and the communities we serve.”
No actual explanation for the store’s closing was in the statement.
“It’s OB. It’s OB!” is how Ornelas explained it.
“We’ve got OB Beans. We’ve got all of these wonderful little mom-n-pops, Azucar,” pointed Duncan.
The sign on the Starbucks window also read, “To find your new favorite store, connect with your baristas to learn where they’ll be working after the closure of this store.” The sign listed three locations in nearby Point Loma and the Midway area.
“I think that the fact that they get to retain their jobs and go somewhere else where they’re needed is great,” offered Ornelas as she held onto a cup from Café Bella from a block away.
