Inside information told me yesterday that the real estate people for Starbucks were in the area the past few weeks and did look at locations in Henderson KY but have put off opening any store in our area for at least two to three years. A lot having to do with I69 highway development I was told.
This means if you are thinking of opening a full-fledged official coffee-house in Henderson KY you stand a good chance of making it if your product is good. You should not have to fear Starbucks coming in and taking your business away.
I would encourage anyone thinking of a venture like this to go for it. Our community is ripe for an establishment like this. Henderson Kentucky people are looking for a place to be and be seen in a coffee shop type environment. The need is great. It doesn’t have to be downtown either-anywhere in our community would be nice.
We have three coffee establishments in Henderson Kentucky area that presently serve as a coffee destination.
Bridgeview Coffee at the corner of 2nd and N Green is a drive-through coffee place. They really can’t be called a coffee-house because they just have outdoor seating for two and a place for you to park your bicycle. I do have to say that their product is consistently good and price is reasonable. I buy coffee from them frequently. I have a problem with the Styrofoam cups that they serve custom coffee drinks. They should use paper cups. I’m not a huge fan of the drive through anything-, but I do use this service when I want coffee in downtown Henderson and not on my bicycle. Their product would do quite well in a location that would allow inside seating. Just this morning I personally witnessed cars wrapped around this small kiosk at 8:00 am in line for coffee. Their business is booming.
Planters Coffee House is a long time mainly lunch destination than a coffee-house or coffee shop in downtown Henderson KY. They are open during the mornings and are trying out new evening venues and serve beer and wine.
The Thirst Aid Station at the Elm Street entrance to Methodist Hospital is good too. Consistently they serve a good cup of official Starbucks. I think though people are having a hard time grasping going to the local hospital to get a cup of good java. I hope they stay. It is really close to my house. They have real potential of making a coffee destination. Read Methodist Hospital press release about The Thirst Aid Station.
Another tidbit of information in the Starbucks Evansville IN market is that they plan on enlarging the Green River Road Store (#9759) into the former Integra Bank location. With this, they will be able to offer drive through service. Starbuck’s is also looking to bring back a west side Starbucks location. They closed a west side Evansville IN location a few years ago.
I too was told that in order for a community to have a local Starbucks they need to have either a Target or Kroger in the vicinity. Have you heard that?
What would you like to see as a coffee destination in Henderson Kentucky?
I would love to see a great local coffee shop open in Henderson. I’ve honestly not had very good experiences with the current ones. I feel like they don’t have very good (real) coffee knowledge. Of course, I only work in Henderson, not live there, but I intentionally don’t go to any of the current ones because every (multiple) visit has been disappointing.
I also like all three of the coffee places we have…but I don’t LOVE any of them. Two of them brew a good cup of whatever I order, but don’t really have seating so I can meet with friends over coffee and the third has seating but seems to have trouble brewing any special types of coffee (although their regular coffee is good, I’ve not had good experiences with blended or iced coffee drinks there).
I’ve heard that in order for Target to come to a community, there has to be a certain population number (120K, I think?) that the Target would service. There are a lot of places that won’t come to Henderson because of population, I imagine. Maybe I69 will change some of that?
It’s Jason’s dream to open a coffee house. We just aren’t quite in the right place to start anything like that up just yet!