Aim168 Real Estate:
When Alan Swann opened Vintage Coffee at NW 150 and Western in April 2007, he saw an area where the closest Starbucks was more than 10 minutes away. Times quickly changed. In 2008 a Starbucks opened a short drive north at 15th and Santa Fe in Edmond with another being built at 33rd and Broadway. Before Swann could figure out how the competition might hurt, or help, his business, the shop on Santa Fe closed and work stopped at 33rd and Broadway.
“I wasn’t scared,” Swann said. “I was hoping one would open across the street from me. That would have brought their customers within arm’s reach of me. And when lines there got long, baristas got snippy, and the coffee got old, which happens a lot, I figured customers would go across the street and give us a try.”
Stuart Graham, a retail specialist with CB Richard Ellis, is working on leasing for the three-bay shopping center on Santa Fe, and free-standing former Starbucks at Britton and Broadway and at NW 122 and Pennsylvania. Stuart’s challenges include finding a tenant for space that was built at $200 per square foot with leases hovering at $40 per square foot. Graham said Starbucks is trying to find new tenants to assume its leases or negotiating with owners.
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