Starbucks fans in Downtown Windsor will have to find a new spot as of July 31. The location at University Avenue and Ouellette Avenue is closing.
The owner of the building where the coffee shop is located admitted to BlackburnNews.com he was surprised by the decision by Starbucks head office to close down the popular location. Joe Mikhail of Mikhail Holdings said he found out last week when a customer called him.
"Normally the procedure is you inform six-months or a year in advance, 'hey we're leaving,'" said Mikhail. "Everybody has an ability to deal with the situation, but this was almost like, 'well, see ya. I'm gone and here are the keys.'"
Starbucks has three other locations in Windsor, on Tecumseh Road East east of Jefferson, on Howard Avenue just south of the E.C. Row, and in Indigo Books at Devonshire Mall.
It also has locations in Leamington and Lakeshore.
Mikhail did not receive the decision to close the store downtown.
"They said 'well we've rationalized our stores and this is being rationalized out.' That was all we were told," he said.
He disputed any claim Starbucks was closing because of an issue with the landlord.
"We've had a wonderful relationship with them, and we continue to," he explained. "We're building new stores for them elsewhere.
"There are different reasons. Could be profitability. Could be safety. Could be basically the location in that area," he continued. "Something with the downtown did not work for them."
Mikhail admitted the core of the city has changed since Starbucks first opened there 15 years ago and said the loss of it is a blow for downtown.
"It's like the canary in the mine," he said. "Sending a message where the largest coffee maker in the world has walked away, and that sends a message to other people coming in."
- With files from Allanah Wills