Starbucks Opens New Location

A new Starbucks Coffee shop opened in the center of Harvard Square on Friday morning with a small ceremony, in which General Manager C. Shane Sykes cut a green ribbon separating a small crowd of eager customers from the double doors to the two-story cafe.

The quiet kickoff, which was attended by Harvard Square Business Association Executive Director Denise A. Jillson, was in contrast to the bustle and loud hum of chatter that would soon fill the polished interior of the new store.

The second floor, which has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Mass. Ave, offers a variety of seating options for both social and studying needs, and also sports a modest stage for hosting live bands.

“Our mission is that the entertainment will support the coffee vibe,” Sykes told The Crimson in an interview prior to the store’s opening.

On Sunday afternoon, John W. Guenther, a calculus teacher at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School in Waltham, sat at a center table on the second floor, grading a stack of papers. He said that he is a loyal customer to the Starbucks in Davis Square, but will definitely be back to the new Harvard Square location.

Guenther said that, compared to other stores in Harvard Square, this new Starbucks is an “improvement.”

Across from Guenther, Phil W. Hyde, a graduate and former employee of the Harvard Kennedy School, said that he thinks this new Starbucks will cut into the business of the Starbucks in the Garage—his preferred Starbucks location.

He said he hopes that, as a result, the Garage Starbucks will be less crowded when he next returns.

Still, Hyde said he admits that the new Starbucks is a good space for tourists and young people.

“It’s like the cafe at Lamont,” Hyde said—a social space for students who are studying, who stay for long hours to get work done.

“I love the vibe—the warm colors,” said Catherine C. Doherty ’12, who frequents Starbucks about four times a week. “The lighting is great from the window.”

Tim M. Hanchin, a graduate from the Harvard Divinity School, said that he is a loyal Starbucks customer who usually studies in the Garage location.

“I think it’s brilliant,” he said of the new store.

“I would call it earthy-intellectual,” he added, noting that the contrast of the store’s interior aesthetic juxtaposed with the urban setting of the T stop outside.

The new Starbucks is open until 1 a.m. every day.

—Kerry M. Flynn contributed reporting for this article.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.