Late in the day, on March 27, 2012, I stopped by the Starbucks at 112 Trapelo Road, in Belmont, Massachusetts.  This store has a Clover coffee brewer.  The store was not part of my scheduled visits, and in fact, was a surprise to me!

Early in the morning, I had been by the Starbucks at 60 Bedford Street, in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Then later in the day, I was visiting with my sister, my niece, and my sister’s friend, Alan.  The four of us had gone to a goat farm together.  Trust me, this is not part of my typical day.  My niece loves goats, and so we went together and got to look at some baby goats, pet some goats, and just hang out together on a big farm.  My sister told me that the farm land we visited in Lexington has continuously been a farm for 400 years!  (I’m in disbelief!)  My niece even  insisted that she show me the chicken coop too.

Here’s a few goat photos:

After our trip to the goat farm, we piled into Alan’s car, and he said that he wanted to go to Starbucks.  Of course, I said “sure.”  And he said that he was going to take us to his favorite store.  Lo and behold, we ended up at 112 Trapelo Road, in Belmont.

I squealed when we got out of the car, upon seeing the Clover sign at the front entrance.  Alan said to me, “Did I hit the jackpot?”  He only orders espresso beverages, and was oblivious that his special store had a unique thing called the Clover.

We had a great time.  My niece ordered a short steamed milk (at a kid’s temp) and then went to the condiment counter and added a bunch of cinnamon and mocha powder on top.

This was the only true “surprise” store visit, and it was fabulous.  The store’s assistant manager was on the register.  She was very friendly, and curious about the guest visiting from Seattle.  We talked and much to my surprise, it she was already an occasional reader of the blog!  By the way, the store manager, Rachel, was working too, and at one point dropped by the table and said hello to the four of us and welcomed us to her store, and checked to make sure we were all having a great time.  I learned that Rachel has been a partner for 6 years, and right now is really thoroughly enjoying the Reserve Ethiopia Sidamo coffee.

This store too looks like it is due for a major remodel, and so I hope that at some point I get to write an update article about it.

If you want to visit, here is the address:

Starbucks store #7538
112 Trapelo Road
Belmont, MA
(617) 489 8767

I am sorry these photos are terrible.  I try to schedule store visits during non-peak hours because I want to show off the store moreso than the customers, however this was a spontaneous visit.  I could only take a few photos that weren’t totally full of customers.  The lobby was full the entire time we were there.  So here are just a few photos:

 

At the end of the day, I was chatting with my sister, and I made the comment that it seems like that, on the whole, you’re more likely to have a great store visit at a Clover store than a regular store.  Of course, I know that there are great store experiences everywhere, but it seems like if you were just going to gamble, the odds are a little better that the Clover store will deliver a great drink and experience when compared with the experiences at a non-Clover store.  I commented that once a store gets a Clover, probably the partners are proud to have it since there are few, and my sister commented that probably the Clovers only go in store’s with some proven track record of success.  It may be an upward spiral.  I definitely do not know the answer, but I do know that this store was a good example of the high caliber experience found at the Clover Starbucks locations.