23rd and Jackson Starbucks: A Community Store. 

On December 29, 2013, I dropped by the Starbucks at 23rd and Jackson in Seattle.  It’s a Clover – Reserve store, but it is also a “Community Store.”  When Starbucks designates a store as a “Community Store,” then a portion of that store’s profits are donated to a local area non-profit.  The first two community Stores were in Harlem, New York, and one in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.  This Starbucks.com page here tells you more about Community Stores.  (Though I notice, as I write this, the page has not been updated to include the two newest Communities Stores – one in Lakewood, Washington, and the other in San Antonio.)

I ordered a Gingerbread Latte during my visit to this store (it will only be available for a short while longer!) and did chat a bit with the store partners who were working that day.  I talked to Billy, a shift supervisor, who definitely has good customer service skills!  I was disappointed to have missed the store manager, Katie N., whom I’ve known for about three years.  When I first met her, she was an assistant store manager at the Columbia Tower Starbucks in downtown Seattle.  She is from Chicago, and had a long Starbucks history in Chicago, and moved to Seattle for the love of Starbucks.  I’m impressed when partners move to Seattle for the opportunity to grow with Starbucks.  She managed a small downtown store briefly before promoting into this more high-profile Community Store.

This store at 23rd and Jackson is partnered to donate a portion of its profits to the YWCA.  I know that there are both customers and partners alike who are unaware of this kind of concept store – I think a “Community Store” is a pretty awesome Starbucks concept, and I hope we see more of them.

I only took a handful of photos while visiting that morning.  The store had quite a flow of customers coming and going on a Sunday morning, so I wasn’t able to take as many as I would have liked.  I hope you enjoy these few photos.