Most students walk through the halls of South High in the early morning with caffeine in their hands. However, the amount of Starbucks is decreasing due to not being able to order ahead at the Big Bend and Dougherty Ferry Starbucks, one convenient for many South High students.
Sophomore Josie Wolf says she goes to this location because she knows it well.
“It’s really close to me and I’m familiar with it,” Wolf said.
Like many people, senior McKenna Birkenholz orders ahead because it saves her time
“I almost never order at the store; when I order ahead, I order before I leave so it will be ready when I get there. It saves me 10 minutes,” Birkenholz said
However, recently this location has been short-staffed and you aren’t able to order ahead. When you go into the store there are long lines and the drive through to worry about. While there are other locations, they are farther away.
“The next closet location is about 10 minutes farther from my house. Then it’s another 10 minutes to school,” said senior Sri Koya.
These other locations are having to make more drinks, so more money, but it also means they are busier.
“The other locations would be packed and busy. It would affect them positively,” Wolf said.
However, not everyone has another location easily accessible for them.
“The next closet locations are at 141/44 or Manchester/Braeshire for me. They’re really not accessible because both Manchester and 141 get backed up and will cause me to be late to school. It took me 20 minutes to get to one that was 2.1 miles versus the one that’s 2 miles away that normally takes me 5-10,” Birkenholz said.
Freshman Taylor Barzak says she drinks energy drinks on days when she knows she is busy.
“I drink energy drinks on days when I have activities after school like games, or soccer practice,” Barzak said.
On the flipside, since students have so many late-night activities, this is why they have caffeine in the morning. There are many other places to go but Starbucks is still the top-tier among most people.
“I get drinks so I am motivated and not tired. I chose Starbucks because I like their drinks, and my mom influenced me to love Starbucks and I’m used to it and love it a lot. I also like the environment of being in Starbucks it makes me happy,” said Wolf.
Some people find other coffee places to go to if they can’t get Starbucks.
“I will get Dunkin’ because the coffee is less expensive, but I feel like Starbucks is more accessible since there are so many locations,” Koya said.
Others find that once they find a coffee place they stick with it.
“My favorite drink from Starbucks is a Venti iced latte, 4 pumps caramel syrup with cold foam. I find that the drink customization is easier to understand at Starbucks, and they have more drinks that I like,” said Birkenholz.
While it is frustrating that this Starbucks location isn’t accepting mobile orders consistently, there is a reason behind it.
“I would guess that people went back to college and they couldn’t get people to work there,” said Birkenholz.
Even with their employees who are still local, those kids have a first priority.
“I feel like a lot of teenagers work at places like that and they have school,” said Wolf.
This location is also closing at noon, so is unable to serve people in the afternoon.
“I love Starbucks and wish they didn’t close early so I could get it after school like a little reward,” said Birkenholz.
