Collegiate Times

Starbucks Coffee Company has become a household name, but not just in a typical American household kind of way. With over 13,000 locations in 40 countries, coffee-drinkers worldwide are replacing the words small, medium, and large with tall, grande, and venti.

Quality coffee, customer service and an inviting atmosphere are just a few of the things that won Starbucks the best coffee in Blacksburg award.

Blacksburg is home to two Starbucks locations, one on North Main Street in Haymarket Square, and one on University City Boulevard, across from University Mall. Adrienne Comenole, the Store Manager for the University City Boulevard location, said this central location provides for a lot of business.

"I come here often," said Nicole Caiazzo, a senior civil engineering major, as she leaned over her books, holding the notorious white and green Starbucks coffee cup encased in a biodegradable sleeve. "I always study here. It's a way to get out of my room; I can sit down and spread out my books."

Walking into Starbucks, you are likely to see more than just a steadily increasing queue of people at the drink bar ordering lattes, mochas, and frappuccinos. Students studying over piles of books, friends chatting from across oversized sofa chairs and business people tapping into the WiFi are all images one finds on a daily basis in Blacksburg Starbucks.

Perhaps people flock to Starbucks because they offer more than coffee - they offer an experience. Aside from caffeinated and decaffeinated beverages, Starbucks offers food items for every meal, coffee mugs and products, board games, a wide CD selection that can be heard softly crooning through the speakers and other coffee-related novelties.

"We hold coffee seminars, we're holding a mothers and children session where we read to the children while the mothers kind of do their own thing," Comenole said. "We try to get involved with the community; for example, every year we do Relay for Life."

Comenole insists this is one of the things that Blacksburg residents go to Starbucks for. She also believes that because Starbucks is a large corporate business that can be found all over the U.S., students away from their hometowns come to Starbucks to get a little taste of home.

"Other places offer different services and different products," Comenole said. "It is our goal to make sure everyone is getting not only great products, but the same thing every time."

This consistency leads to a large number of people who get their coffee from Starbucks every day, sometimes even multiple times a day.

"I could list off 15 people's names right now who come in on a regular basis," Camenole said.

Starbucks offers many promotions aimed at college students. For example, buying a Starbucks thermo mug to keep your coffee warm as you walk to class renders you eligible to receive a free drink in that mug. Currently, if you buy a Starbucks card, you receive 2 free songs through iTunes.