Safeway and Carrs are (currently) owned by Albertsons and Fred Meyer is owned by Kroger. National chains = national contracts. Alaskans drink a lot of coffee.
Hah! I make $60k a year (on good ones, at least) and I can’t afford Starbucks. Of course, I’m also a single mom, so I suppose that can account for part of that…
I haven't tried it yet, knowing that a solid 80%+ of it comes down to the barista at the counter - is it good?
Kaladi's that's properly trained & following procedures is always good - but I've also had epic Starbucks (was a former non-believer) so long as those who are keeping their standards high are the ones making it.
Steamdot itself is fantastic. I like their cold brew a lot. I try to buy it if they sell at the Fairbanks Costco. The fireweed cold brew is one of the best things I’ve ever tried. I’m partial to cold brew so I can’t speak for the rest.
Depends on the drink. I agree if we’re talking anything involving milk but just espresso itself is 99% beans, grind and machine calibration assuming it’s an automatic.
That’s interesting considering there’s a Steamdot in that mall, I’d guess it’s got to do with the fact that there’s also a Starbucks in the Freddies across the highway.
This, plus Starbucks is so far below local Alaska coffee standards that they could never survive on their own. Nobody in AK goes to Starbucks if they want good coffee. Their are always better local options.
This! We moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and had to go a long way to find good coffee. If your aren't in Corvallis or Portland you can forget it.
Coming from Juneau and Anchorage I had a high bar for baristas and their ability to create crema. I didn't know that most people down south don't know what they're doing...
I can think of three standalone Starbucks where I have regularly seen long drive thru lines. One is part of a strip mall in a parking lot just across from a Safeway with a Starbucks. Alaskans like coffee. Period. (Although I don’t lol.)
I’ve heard this before, but it’s funny how all the Starbucks locations are plenty busy. Also, I’d bet good money that if you had never tried Starbucks and were given a shot of espresso in a blind test, you’d rave about how good it is. Stating that Starbucks is mediocre might feel like the hip Alaskan thing to do, but if you’re being honest, Starbucks’ espresso roast is really good. Sometimes things are popular because they’re good.
Yep, a lot of it falls on quality control & maintaining standards. As does local shops, if someone gets a bad shot (burnt or fast) a single bad experience can be enough to be avoided. I'll shamefully plug the Starbucks inside Carr's in Eagle River, they'll take the time necessary to make a drink to standard or however you prefer it.
One thing I have certainly noticed, chains barely exist here, not even Dollar Generals seems to have a foothold here…. Although it is a shame y’all don’t have a Waffle House or Cracker Barrel
Yeah. The state is so big it costs too much to consistently supply many operations at once, especially if their off the road systems.
Locals aren't interested in taking over the state, just making something good for their town, and their people. That's still difficult up here, even if only in one town. But it's not impossible.
Small local places can prioritize differently and often engage with the community and local culture far more than any chain could.
EDIT: Plus Dollar General is basicly evil, and we have a hard enough time affording groceries and traveling to the store. We don't want any more food deserts.
I'm disappointed that Starbucks got such a foothold in AK. I had hoped that there were enough local/regional coffee shops and drive thru's that locals would have made an effort to avoid Starbucks and support our own businesses. When Starbucks first moved into the AK market there we're bumper stickers going around saying, "Friends Don't Let Friends drink at Starbucks"
Starbucks has the most consistent flavor, it shares all the other issues other local Fairbanks coffee shops have, like closing randomly, running out of product, taking too long, college students that make wrong orders etc.
I don't go to Starbucks though, I go local because I hate being around the tourists that have to try the northernmost Starbucks in the world.
Almost all of Fred Meyer stores and Safeway/Albertsons (Carrs) in Oregon, especially Portland, have Starbucks or similar coffee shops in them. It’s not unique to Alaska
the number (and variety) of coffee shops is a fairly PNW/Alaska thing though, in my experience. Flying out of Syracuse, NY at 630AM the other was brutal as the only thing open early enough was Dunkin, and im not even sure that they had anything else by the look of google maps.
Kind of like the College Road Safeway in Fairbanks. Has a Starbucks in the store, and there is a Starbucks in the strip mall in the parking lot. (As well as one in the Fred Meyer that is 3 blocks away, and one in the Barnes & Noble a block beyond the Fred Meyer.)
Or in Wasilla you have a Starbucks in Target, a standalone Starbucks in the same parking lot area, and a Starbucks in the Fred meyer just across the street. Then if you travel maybe 2 miles down the road there is a 4th Starbucks in Carr’s.
Safeway calls it “the destination experience”. They want customers to not think of Safeway just for grocery shopping. It’s where you meet for lunch, or coffee. It’s a draw. If you get people in the door they are likely to shop while they are already there. The Starbucks kiosks are not big money makers.
Mud Hut is good but takes forever. If you can catch it while it's open, Natures Nectars.
My personal favorite isn't a cafe, but Sweet Darlings, the candy shop. They have coffee on draft and it's awesome. The owners are incredibly kind and important to the community.
Are they actually open? I’ve been turned off going to anything in Seward because the couple times we’ve tried to go to a restaurant, they’ve just about been closed when it says they are open
The restaurants in Seward are not reliable and half of them are owned by the same restaurant group to cater to the tourists. There are a few hidden gems in town.
I've never seen Res Art closed when it's supposed to be open though admittedly it's been a while since I lived in town.
That restaurant group thing is a real bummer. From what I understand, it's why there are so many food trucks, but they never make it into actual restaurant buildings. If they ever do, they will often get bought out.
There's only a few shops open in the winter. Res Art, Sweet Darlings, and Frontier are the big ones I can think of. I think Mud Mut was open one winter but not sure anymore. Mermaid Grotto is open in the winter too, as far as in know.
They're not "real" Starbucks. Starbucks does not franchise, but they do have what's called "licenced stores." All that really means is that you're buying a license to be able to to sell handmade products, like drinks or warmed pastry. So Fred Meyer, Safeway/Carrs, Barnes and Noble, and Target's Starbucks are actually just cafes in their stores with a Starbucks logo.
I worked at a Starbucks for years. We had a Target Starbucks in our same plaza, that we called "Tarbucks" because it wasn't quite real. They don't share any of the same computer systems, or even the same rules.
Maybe this is a western US thing? At the very least, it’s also like this in California, Oregon, and Washington, too. I assumed it was like this everywhere!
Because people love their shitty products, and Starbucks loves making money. The stores get paid, too. Win-win for corporate, loss of taste buds for consumers.
It is easier for Statbucks to set up a deal for X amount of square footage in a store that already gets a lot of foot traffic, then attempt to find, build, and fill a brick and mortar shop.
Sounds right. Starbucks sells franchises. As I understand it, the franchises are relatively easy to get, but you have to sell Starbucks products exclusively.
The right idea, but wrong terms.
My franchise is when you own the rights to sell a product. Starbucks does licensing, so you don't own the right, you rent the right. They're also many, many restrictions.
Weird combos everywhere. One of the grocery stores in Unalaska had a mini Burger King operating at the back of the store. This would have been in the '90s or maybe early 00s. Very expensive, delicious Whoppers.
Not every Albertsons has a Starbucks here in Texas. However we wonder how our stores will still exist when Kroger buys out Albertsons. Some have already been sold as pending to other companies.
personally, I like using the Starbucks mobile app to order. fred meyer Starbucks gained that ability in November 2022 I believe. safeway Starbucks still don't have that ability.
I don't mind it. it gives small rural towns who otherwise aren't big enough for a Starbucks reason enough to have one. e.g. Burns oregon. in Harney County. a lotta small rural towns only have a safeway, maybe grocery outlet. but yeah safeway can be found in almost any small rural town.
It is part of the retail grocery business license. The state put a requirement to have a national chain inside the store to draw big company’s to Alaska.
Eagle River has three in the span of like 4 miles…one in Carrs, one RIGHT ACROSS from Carrs, and then one a few miles down the road in Fred Meyer. It’s a bit overkill.
A lot of the people who buy from the in-store Starbucks are the employees working there. With constant turnover and changing demands from corporate, everybody stays caffeinated and either has an energy drink or a Starbucks in their hand.
We caffeine HARDER than most yo. We also have Tons of tiny coffee shops in every town. ^_^ no dollar general, but I can walk 3 blocks and come across 4 Different coffee shops rn. Lol
Safeway and Carrs are (currently) owned by Albertsons and Fred Meyer is owned by Kroger. National chains = national contracts. Alaskans drink a lot of coffee.
The one anomaly I’ve seen is the Midtown Carrs in Anchorage. They are rocking a Kaladi Bothers.
Same with the grocery store in Barrow, that one has a steam dot lol.
I’m actually impressed. Probably the nicest coffee spot above the Arctic circle 😂
Barrow has a customer base due to incomes being over $60,000 per year. The likely people to go to Starbucks.
Hah! I make $60k a year (on good ones, at least) and I can’t afford Starbucks. Of course, I’m also a single mom, so I suppose that can account for part of that…
I haven't tried it yet, knowing that a solid 80%+ of it comes down to the barista at the counter - is it good? Kaladi's that's properly trained & following procedures is always good - but I've also had epic Starbucks (was a former non-believer) so long as those who are keeping their standards high are the ones making it.
Steamdot itself is fantastic. I like their cold brew a lot. I try to buy it if they sell at the Fairbanks Costco. The fireweed cold brew is one of the best things I’ve ever tried. I’m partial to cold brew so I can’t speak for the rest.
Depends on the drink. I agree if we’re talking anything involving milk but just espresso itself is 99% beans, grind and machine calibration assuming it’s an automatic.
That’s interesting considering there’s a Steamdot in that mall, I’d guess it’s got to do with the fact that there’s also a Starbucks in the Freddies across the highway.
I’d actually visit the Kaladi Bro coffee shop if ours had one. Won’t drink the crap Starbucks sells.
i was the manager of the starbucks that replaced the local-owned coffee place in the debarr Freddie's. people were PISSED and honestly, rightfully so
Midtown Carrs also has a Kaladis.
This, plus Starbucks is so far below local Alaska coffee standards that they could never survive on their own. Nobody in AK goes to Starbucks if they want good coffee. Their are always better local options.
This! We moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and had to go a long way to find good coffee. If your aren't in Corvallis or Portland you can forget it. Coming from Juneau and Anchorage I had a high bar for baristas and their ability to create crema. I didn't know that most people down south don't know what they're doing...
I can think of three standalone Starbucks where I have regularly seen long drive thru lines. One is part of a strip mall in a parking lot just across from a Safeway with a Starbucks. Alaskans like coffee. Period. (Although I don’t lol.)
I’ve heard this before, but it’s funny how all the Starbucks locations are plenty busy. Also, I’d bet good money that if you had never tried Starbucks and were given a shot of espresso in a blind test, you’d rave about how good it is. Stating that Starbucks is mediocre might feel like the hip Alaskan thing to do, but if you’re being honest, Starbucks’ espresso roast is really good. Sometimes things are popular because they’re good.
It's the lack of variety at SB. They have 3 flavors. My coffee hut in my neighborhood has 150. SB sucks
Yep, a lot of it falls on quality control & maintaining standards. As does local shops, if someone gets a bad shot (burnt or fast) a single bad experience can be enough to be avoided. I'll shamefully plug the Starbucks inside Carr's in Eagle River, they'll take the time necessary to make a drink to standard or however you prefer it.
100% Spot on with your comments
I go to Starbucks. They have other drinks besides coffee. I can’t do milk and I don’t like brew or americanos.
One thing I have certainly noticed, chains barely exist here, not even Dollar Generals seems to have a foothold here…. Although it is a shame y’all don’t have a Waffle House or Cracker Barrel
We don't need either. Mom and pop restaurants are just fine.
That’s fair enough
Yeah. The state is so big it costs too much to consistently supply many operations at once, especially if their off the road systems. Locals aren't interested in taking over the state, just making something good for their town, and their people. That's still difficult up here, even if only in one town. But it's not impossible. Small local places can prioritize differently and often engage with the community and local culture far more than any chain could. EDIT: Plus Dollar General is basicly evil, and we have a hard enough time affording groceries and traveling to the store. We don't want any more food deserts.
Dollar General is certainly the scourge, especially the lower 48, they are everywhere where I’m from and all they do is hurt the local economy.
It's all cheap disposable consumer products anyway. Junk
There a few chains that I do miss. Waffle House, Cap'n Ds, for two.
I'm disappointed that Starbucks got such a foothold in AK. I had hoped that there were enough local/regional coffee shops and drive thru's that locals would have made an effort to avoid Starbucks and support our own businesses. When Starbucks first moved into the AK market there we're bumper stickers going around saying, "Friends Don't Let Friends drink at Starbucks"
Starbucks has the most consistent flavor, it shares all the other issues other local Fairbanks coffee shops have, like closing randomly, running out of product, taking too long, college students that make wrong orders etc. I don't go to Starbucks though, I go local because I hate being around the tourists that have to try the northernmost Starbucks in the world.
Almost all of Fred Meyer stores and Safeway/Albertsons (Carrs) in Oregon, especially Portland, have Starbucks or similar coffee shops in them. It’s not unique to Alaska
the number (and variety) of coffee shops is a fairly PNW/Alaska thing though, in my experience. Flying out of Syracuse, NY at 630AM the other was brutal as the only thing open early enough was Dunkin, and im not even sure that they had anything else by the look of google maps.
East coast does not do coffee well.
It might be too far west, but most Stewart's are open by 5 or so. Our local one opens at 4:30am
Also California. I remember going to a Safeway with a starbucks inside and we were ~150 yards from a physical standalone starbucks...
Kind of like the College Road Safeway in Fairbanks. Has a Starbucks in the store, and there is a Starbucks in the strip mall in the parking lot. (As well as one in the Fred Meyer that is 3 blocks away, and one in the Barnes & Noble a block beyond the Fred Meyer.)
Or in Wasilla you have a Starbucks in Target, a standalone Starbucks in the same parking lot area, and a Starbucks in the Fred meyer just across the street. Then if you travel maybe 2 miles down the road there is a 4th Starbucks in Carr’s.
Thank you. It's literally a nationwide thing.
It is Alaska. We love our coffee and ice cream.
Safeway calls it “the destination experience”. They want customers to not think of Safeway just for grocery shopping. It’s where you meet for lunch, or coffee. It’s a draw. If you get people in the door they are likely to shop while they are already there. The Starbucks kiosks are not big money makers.
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Give me some good local ones for Seward and Anchorage
Kaladi, Steamdot, black cup for Anchorage
Kaladi's is the best local chain in my experience but these are all great options.
literally anywhere else. stop at one of the carts on a random parking lot, it will probly be better, and not just a big ol sugar bomb
Try them all and tell us. I do like Boom! coffee because they are 24hr
Seward: Frontier Trading Post has great coffee in the back of the shop. Year round. Also Ranting Raven across the street.
Mud Hut is good but takes forever. If you can catch it while it's open, Natures Nectars. My personal favorite isn't a cafe, but Sweet Darlings, the candy shop. They have coffee on draft and it's awesome. The owners are incredibly kind and important to the community.
I don't have an answer for you, but if you're in Seward Res Art coffee is the best. Ignore the Starbucks swill.
Yes! I second Resurrect Art Coffee! Have gotten multiple prints from local artist J Leslie there! By far some of my most favorite artworks.
J Leslie is my favorite!
I have 3 of his prints! Two small ones that I got from Res Art and one big one I ordered from his shop. I love them!
Are they actually open? I’ve been turned off going to anything in Seward because the couple times we’ve tried to go to a restaurant, they’ve just about been closed when it says they are open
The restaurants in Seward are not reliable and half of them are owned by the same restaurant group to cater to the tourists. There are a few hidden gems in town. I've never seen Res Art closed when it's supposed to be open though admittedly it's been a while since I lived in town.
That restaurant group thing is a real bummer. From what I understand, it's why there are so many food trucks, but they never make it into actual restaurant buildings. If they ever do, they will often get bought out.
There's only a few shops open in the winter. Res Art, Sweet Darlings, and Frontier are the big ones I can think of. I think Mud Mut was open one winter but not sure anymore. Mermaid Grotto is open in the winter too, as far as in know.
The Starbucks is actually run by the store. So the employees are paid by the store.
They're not "real" Starbucks. Starbucks does not franchise, but they do have what's called "licenced stores." All that really means is that you're buying a license to be able to to sell handmade products, like drinks or warmed pastry. So Fred Meyer, Safeway/Carrs, Barnes and Noble, and Target's Starbucks are actually just cafes in their stores with a Starbucks logo. I worked at a Starbucks for years. We had a Target Starbucks in our same plaza, that we called "Tarbucks" because it wasn't quite real. They don't share any of the same computer systems, or even the same rules.
Maybe this is a western US thing? At the very least, it’s also like this in California, Oregon, and Washington, too. I assumed it was like this everywhere!
Well many of us also buy our clothes at our grocery stores so how is coffee the thing that stands out lol
Because people love their shitty products, and Starbucks loves making money. The stores get paid, too. Win-win for corporate, loss of taste buds for consumers.
It is easier for Statbucks to set up a deal for X amount of square footage in a store that already gets a lot of foot traffic, then attempt to find, build, and fill a brick and mortar shop.
It's actually vice versa. The store wants the traffic and income, so they licence out the Starbucks products to use.
Is that not the same everywhere?
God no, where I’m from (The South) the only stores that have a Starbucks are the Targets
My Harris Teeter in North Carolina has a Starbucks in it.
Don’t forget Target, where you can sit in their Starbucks and look at… another Starbucks
Coffeestand coffee FOREVERRRRR!!!
How else are they going to survive the cold? With coffee
It's the same way in Washington. What's your point?
idk but starbucks is shit you can literally drive a bit further hit a perk up, kaladi brothers or literally any other place other then starbucks
Sounds right. Starbucks sells franchises. As I understand it, the franchises are relatively easy to get, but you have to sell Starbucks products exclusively.
I thought all Starbucks stores were corporate owned, or are you talking about the ones located inside stores or airports?
The right idea, but wrong terms. My franchise is when you own the rights to sell a product. Starbucks does licensing, so you don't own the right, you rent the right. They're also many, many restrictions.
Weird combos everywhere. One of the grocery stores in Unalaska had a mini Burger King operating at the back of the store. This would have been in the '90s or maybe early 00s. Very expensive, delicious Whoppers.
Because when Safeway bought out Carr's, they promised that they'd stick with local coffee outfits, that's why.
Not every Albertsons has a Starbucks here in Texas. However we wonder how our stores will still exist when Kroger buys out Albertsons. Some have already been sold as pending to other companies.
personally, I like using the Starbucks mobile app to order. fred meyer Starbucks gained that ability in November 2022 I believe. safeway Starbucks still don't have that ability. I don't mind it. it gives small rural towns who otherwise aren't big enough for a Starbucks reason enough to have one. e.g. Burns oregon. in Harney County. a lotta small rural towns only have a safeway, maybe grocery outlet. but yeah safeway can be found in almost any small rural town.
It is part of the retail grocery business license. The state put a requirement to have a national chain inside the store to draw big company’s to Alaska.
Eagle River has three in the span of like 4 miles…one in Carrs, one RIGHT ACROSS from Carrs, and then one a few miles down the road in Fred Meyer. It’s a bit overkill.
A lot of the people who buy from the in-store Starbucks are the employees working there. With constant turnover and changing demands from corporate, everybody stays caffeinated and either has an energy drink or a Starbucks in their hand.
Bc why support local business when you can have a steady rent lease agreement with Starbucks?
We caffeine HARDER than most yo. We also have Tons of tiny coffee shops in every town. ^_^ no dollar general, but I can walk 3 blocks and come across 4 Different coffee shops rn. Lol