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It’s a drive thru world.
Sadly, you’re correct. Sbux has sold out for mass volume. Outgrown the standalone urban locations. Assembly line production is the only thing that is going to drive their revs any higher. Tough one for Broad Ripple, but 5-6 other local coffee shops are in the village within 4 blocks. Hoping the Starbucks faithful can change their routine to include one of Ripple’s homegrowns.
It’s also a “order ahead mobile world” and that was a location ill-suited for that.
Just further evidence of the decline of BR. So sad. There are very few quality retailers left in the village to bring anyone in during the day or early evening. Hopefully the likes of BR Bagel Deli, Hubbard & Cravens, Monon Coffee, etc can survive until the village can reinvent itself back into what it was. Kudos to them as well as Cholita, Flatwater, and the very few others trying to keep the village an inviting place to come.
Broad Ripple doomed itself — with LOTS of help from city government. It ceased to be a “village” long ago when decisions were made to enable mass production of raucous drunkenness, and its adjacent mayhem. No doubt the current leadership of BVA and so-called urban planners will criticize such a view as old-fashioned. But the proof is in the pudding. Broad Ripple used to be a wonderful little commercial center. Now it is a disaster that not even Starbucks can tolerate.
There is definitely decline within Broad ripple without a doubt.
However, I think there are macro business strategy reasons for why Starbucks is moving that supersede some of the neighborhood concerns in this case.
Monon Coffee is terrific!
What Ryan S said.
I’m not sure removing all those parallel parking spaces on BR Ave. helped the situation for small retailers!
Bingo, John K. Small merchants do rely on convenient parking, and BR has been removing parking for years now. (Anyone remember the Canal Deck?)
I hope the BRVA and building owner have anticipated this so the site could be leased to a quality retailer other than a vape shop and CBD shop
BR is not even a shadow of its former self
But you know they have the pay to park covered in the event anything pops
The whole thing is SAD and seems to lack any master direction
Decline in Broad Ripple? Not so much. What has hurt Broad Ripple in recent years was the incessant road construction which, thankfully, has (mostly) been completed. New businesses will move in and be just fine. There are hundreds of new apartments opening very soon right in the heart of Broad Ripple and there are still plenty of independent retailers and restaurants to serve the neighborhood. If you truly relish the “village” feel, I hardly think that a Starbucks closing is something to cry about when, as others have already pointed out, there are plenty of homegrown options already in that area ready to fill any void.
Marshall, you are right in so much as BR is not the desolate place some suggest. But it is hardly the fun, quirky place it was twenty or thirty years ago. Just a few pictures of the variety of shops and clubs from earlier years is testament to that. Galleries? Nice dress shops? Etc. One or two, maybe — compared with tens/dozens then. It’s still pleasant during the day and evening. But what used to be beer and drinks in the late evening with live music or in small, clubby places with dartboards has largely turned into just beer and drinks — on a large scale. The large number of apartments really doesn’t help. If they were condos owned by the residents, that would make a difference because the owners would have a long term interest in the neighborhood. Rentals can be fine, but they are not (usually) long-term permanent residents.
Where are the posts about the high crime rate and a cesspit of a city?!? Hmmm… Maybe Starbucks shuts down locations just for business reasons.
Monon Coffee Company is awesome
It’s more of a testament to the strength of the mom and pop coffee shops in Broad Ripple and the changing business strategy of Starbucks then it is evidence of the decline of the area. Broad Ripple continues to evolve and remains viable, despite some incidents of crime that are unfortunate but also are occurring throughout Central Indiana.
Starbucks is fast food and fast food relies on drive thru and doordash/pickup orders, not walk in traffic. If you look at the other major fast food in Broad Ripple, McDonald’s, it has a drive thru and its own dedicated parking lot.
So not really a surprise.
Anyone remember when Starbucks was supposed to be the death of local coffee? Broad Ripple showed they could co-exist within a block of eachother and both thrive.
I am 50 years old and I find some of these handwringing comments amusing. Even when I was just a kid, Broad Ripple was well-known as the place for young adults to go bar-hopping. Even back then, people lamented how “the Village” had lost its charm, etc. When I got older, I used to go out with friends in BR. Some of the activity moved back downtown as the city focused on revitalization efforts, but BR was still known for its nightlife.
Starbucks are a dime and dozen—the fast food of coffee. Broad Ripple will get along just fine without it, and there are many other places in BR to get a good cup of coffee.
I am even older than you and I visited the Village as a 20-something to go bar-hopping and eating out too. I lived for almost 25 years in BR or within a mile or so of College & BR, and while the neighborhood has definitely changed, I don’t really think it has declined. Storefronts don’t sit vacant for very long. (Unless they have a crazy landlord, which unfortunately is the case in a couple of places.)