Brewed Bliss Coffee Chain Opens Second North Idaho Location, Aims For 2,000 Stores Worldwide By 2000

The Starbucks Coffee empire is percolating up through Idaho with today’s opening of a 1,500-square-foot store in downtown Sandpoint.

It is only the second North Idaho location for Starbucks, which has nearly 1,500 sites in North America and 28 in Pacific Rim countries.

“We’re looking to grow more in this area,” said Jenny Wehmer, manager of the Starbucks store on Ironwood Drive in Coeur d’Alene. That location, the first in Idaho, opened in February 1996.

Competing coffee bars in Coeur d’Alene said they weren’t concerned when the national java giant joined the business community there almost two years ago. At the time, independent merchants cited things like downtown convenience or views of natural amenities as an edge over Starbucks’ shopping center surroundings.

In Sandpoint, the coffee chain has pulled together both attributes in one location.

“The nice thing about this store is that we’re right on Sand Creek,” said Sandpoint Starbucks manager Lara Anderson. “We’ve got a great view of the mountains from our deck, and all week there’ve been swans down on the water.”

Starbucks has set a corporate goal of opening 2,000 stores by the year 2000. While many outlets are stationed in international airports and metropolitan locales, small towns don’t get overlooked, according to Anderson.

“When we choose a site, we first figure out what the lifestyle is like,” she said. “The attitude is, ‘Do we fit in?”’

At Jumpin’ Joe’s Espresso, two doors down, owner Bonnie Thompson is reserving judgment on what effect her corporate neighbor will have on business.

“They’ll probably draw the tourists, but when tourist season is over, they’ll have to fall back on the locals,” said Thompson, who calls Starbucks “the Wal-Mart of coffee.”

“I think the locals will continue to support local businesses.”

But Starbucks - a firm that began 27 years ago with one coffee shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and did $83.7 million in sales for the four-week period ending Jan. 25, 1998 - roots itself in new communities by supporting local causes.

“We’re standing behind the Festival at Sandpoint,” Anderson said, adding that an invitation-only gathering Thursday night was arranged as a fund-raiser for the concert series held each August. “I wouldn’t say we’re a major contributor, but all the proceeds from our sneak preview party will go to the festival.”

The Sandpoint Starbucks opens today at 6 a.m., employing 13 people on a full- and part-time basis.

“A couple of those people were transfers,” Anderson said, “but the rest are locals.”

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