Starbucks Displacing East Village Coffeeshop The Bean

(The Bean on Flickr)

After almost ten years in business, East Village coffee shop The Bean (we remember it when it was called Kudos!) is getting the boot to make way for a cooperatively-run not-for-profit organic coffee kibbutz that will donate 100% of its proceeds to saving the manatees. Oops, correction: it's going to be Manhattan's 188th Starbucks. No surprise here—we are all Starbucks now—but what's funny about this latest Starbucks expansion is that The Bean didn't even find out about it until an interior designer for Starbucks showed up to plan the renovations.

"I said, ‘How can I help you?' " the manager, Guy Puglia, tells the Times. "He said, ‘I’m here for the renovation.' I said, ‘What renovation?’ He says, ‘For the Starbucks.’ I heard ‘Starbucks,’ and said to him, ‘Yo: You have to leave, now.' " Oh, but they'll be back! For the past year, The Bean, which is located on the corner of First Avenue and Third Street, has been on a month-to-month lease, and late last month they received a notice to vacate in 30 days.

It's a bummer for the neighborhood—with its free Wi-Fi, in-house computers, dog-friendly staff, and lack of corporate homogeneity, The Bean has become a sort of default meeting place for many locals, who leisurely swap the latest news and linger past midnight on weekends. All that's over once The Bean goes up Troy's bucket.

But it's not all bad news—the Times reports that The Bean will open a new location just a stone's throw away on First Avenue, at the southeast corner of Second Street. And maybe it's all for the best, because their current location (which was formerly the beloved Little Rickies, which was like Love Saves the Day on crack) has had some bad luck, with a cab crashing into it last November.

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By John Del Signore in Food on September 14, 2011 10:43 AM

Comments [rss]

dizzy5

Sorry, you tadpoles. I was there when the place was Tenzer Army/Navy the EV was nice,quiet and uncrowded because you weren't, like, borned yet.

Gwinny

Starbucks is shit. There are 4 around my office, and I avoid them in favor of the local places. This is really lame.

Peanut_Butter

I agree, but I like their large green tea though.

Guest

I used to work for The Bean. I absolutely cannot stand Guy Puglia. He needs anger management and Valium. In any event, I am very happy they are not closing down for good -- it would be a huge loss to the neighborhood. The customers are very sweet, love the space and can bring their dogs. They always treated the employees very well. Also, their Hawaiian Hazelnut coffee is phenomenal. Try it!

OleS

"There is now a Starbucks in my pants." -- George Carlin

Peanut_Butter

Loved most of his stuff, but his later routines were kinda dark though.

Caffiend

You think this is bad..... Wait till you see what Starbucks is doing Friday at 47th & Broadway.

RobertMosesSupposesErroneously

I work next door, and I gotta admit I'm a little terrified. Big vague signs up, mysterious papered-over windows, contractors going in and out at all hours....all seems a little ominous.

Guest

i don't patronize these joints but its funny -- for all their locavore, fair-trade, anti-corporate feel-goodery bullshit, NYers pack into these corporate eateries just like the roaches that inhabit said eateries.

there seems to be no shortage of macbook-toting, skinny jean wearing, horn-rimmed sporting yokels hunkering down for a mocha-frappa-crappa-whatnot at Starbucks all hours of the day...just sayin.

SPsGhost

and those people are assholes who don't know what good coffee is.

Guest

"i knew it! i'm surrounded by assholes!"

virgilstarkwell

you're absolutely right - but i guess it's lot easier for people to get on a soapbox here than vote with their actions by not going to starbucks/walmart/porn store/or whoever the culprit du jour might be.

suga7

They have the best chai tea I have ever tasted.

torchTheMall

landlords are the worst

Peanut_Butter

I heard ‘Starbucks,’ and said to him, ‘Yo: You have to leave, now.'

LOL

Professor Von Nostren

I'd not heard of them moving to 2nd St, but they are opening new locations at 1st Ave & 9th St and 2nd Ave & 3rd St. they also just opened at Broadway and 12th St, so they must be doing ok.

virgilstarkwell

"Like everything else in this homogeneous, corporately-owned country, Starbucks is taking over East Village coffeeshop The Bean."

ok, you're the landlord and your tenants lease is up. your current tenant is a neighborhood mom and pop store, is loved by the community, pays you $10,000.00 a month, and is occasionally (but not chronically) late on the rent. you get an offer of $25,000.00 a month on the space from big, bad megacorp and they will direct deposit the money into your account on the first of the month. what do you do?

yeah, that's what i thought.

it's easy to point the finger of blame at starbucks (and don't get me wrong - i'm no friend of starbucks... their coffee blows and the cinnamon crumb cake is too sticky) but the problem lies with capitalism and the fact that we all want to be rich. until we get over that, we have no one to blame for the homogenization of the country but ourselves.

TheOtherBob

True, that's how it works. And it's also true that most wouldn't really want it any other way -- that the protectionism required to avoid this sort of thing would be worse than the disease.

But...still sucks.

SPsGhost

We can blame scumbag sellout landlords.

virgilstarkwell

you can - but it reeks of bullshit.

can you honestly say that, to use my example above, you would just forego $15,000 a month? over the course of a ten year lease, that's $1.8 million.