It’s a week before Christmas, and all up Main Street, people are awaiting lattes and cake pops to eat.
On Monday, the Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce is hosting an invitation-only ribbon cutting for the grand opening of the coffee retailer Starbucks, which will soon open across the street from the Taylor Independent School District Administrative offices and Main Street Intermediate School.
“We are happy to confirm that we are opening a new location at 3116 N. Main Street, which will be the first Starbucks location in Taylor, TX,” said a spokesperson for Starbucks. “We are proud to join Taylor community and look forward to acting as a gathering place for citizens and visitors of the community for years to come.”
Though as of press time, the company was unable to confirm the exact date, Chamber President Tia Rae Stone said she thinks it will likely be sometime this week.
“We have a ribboncutting set up,” Stone said. “It’s an invitationonly kind of thing. It’s their friends and family kind of day … My guess is it will open on the 19th or 20th (of December).”
Though Stone said she thinks the retailer will be welcome by locals, she thinks the arrival of Starbucks is going to be especially helpful for people visiting Taylor for various events.
“I know a lot of locals are excited, but downtown patrons tend to be downtown patrons,” Stone said. “And this is going to really appeal to our people who are coming in for baseball games. We have a lot of people who come in for baseball games and softball games out at the sports complex and out to the Williamson County Expo Center for special events. I think this will be great for those guests in our community.”
In addition, Stone said she hopes Starbucks will be a boon to the local area.
“I also hope it’s going to be good for that shopping center right there,” Stone said. “I hope that it will get more people over there and stimulate that a little bit. I think it certainly has the potential to do that.”
Mark Thomas, the president and CEO of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation, said Starbucks’ arrival is related to that of Samsung Austin Semiconductor, which his office helped bring to Taylor late last year.
“It’s kind of like somebody said, ‘What does Taylor need?,’ and it was kind of like everything when I first got here, but now we have addressed the industrial side with such a mega announcement, and that’s really kind of changed the world on that side, it’s the other sectors now, and they will all be brought along,” Thomas said. “Having Starbucks is an indication of what is getting ready to happen in the future because they are very savvy site selectors, and they don’t make mistakes, so if they have decided that we are a good place for one of those locations, that’s a really big deal.”
With regards to Samsung, Stone said she was sure the global semiconductor manufacturer would make good use of the coffee purveyor’s new location.
“It’s going to be a long trip for coffee for Samsung folks, well, long trip in Taylor terms for coffee, but they were really happy to see it coming,” Stone said. “That’s going to make it easier for them to do big groups.”
