March 2020 saw the closing of many creature comforts. Starbucks in the Sinclair library was unfortunately one of them. Closing down, the café hoped to return post-pandemic, but according to Paul Murphy, the Director of Business Services at Sinclair, that won’t be happening – or at least not in the capacity they once thought. Unfortunately, when Starbucks closed many of their locations for good due to lack of sales, the kiosk in the library was one of them.
“Sadly the Starbucks corporation discontinued the licensed franchise store opportunity for Aramark at the Sinclair Library Kiosk location due to a lack of sales; meaning we can no longer accept Starbucks gift cards or belong to the Starbucks reward program.”
The kiosk will reopen when classes resume for the fall semester, but it will not be Starbucks. Instead, the kiosk will operate under a new moniker – ‘Sinclair’s Coffee’.
According to Mr. Murphy, “The good news is that we have enrolled the new “Sinclair’s Coffee” Kiosk into the “We proudly serve Starbucks” program so we can still offer most of the Starbucks line of Frappuccino and specialty drinks!”
According to the Nestle Coffee Partners website, ‘We Proudly Serve’ includes a variety of ways that coffee kiosks in colleges, universities, and other businesses can serve the famous Starbucks coffee and tea despite not being an actual Starbucks.
Thanks to the Sinclair’s Coffee kiosk, students at Sinclair will be able to still enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea while browsing for their latest read or researching for their next project.
Jeri Hensley
Executive Editor/Creative Director