Gothamist reports today that employees of some Brooklyn Starbucks stores, including the Montague Street branch, are being asked to wear Brooklyn Nets hats to promote the team who are now playing at the controversial Barclays Center:

Gothamist: One employee at the Montague Street outpost told us the Nets advertising “started a couple of months ago when the stadium opened up,” and that wearing them is “required because the boss paid a lot of money for them. [Employees] don’t like them much because they’re big and constantly fall, but we have to [wear them] regardless.” However, a barista in DUMBO told us that they are not required, adding, “I don’t even follow sports, I just like the hat.” At press time, we hear they are keeping the mermaid logo at Starbucks, but are we that far away from it being replaced by the terrifying Brooklyn Knight?

Photo via Gothamist

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/52498

Back in May, we wrote about Montague Street’s “resurrection, revitalization, renaissance or recovery,” pointing to the fact that the retail corridor is healthier than it’s been in three-plus years, with a dozen new businesses opening their doors in the past year or so. In all, Montague has seen the coming of: Custom House, Dellarocco’s on Hicks, VIP Nails & Salon, Le Pain Quotidien, Ruby and Jenna, Area Yoga & Spa, Hanco’s and Starbucks’ new home, while we’re still waiting for Ani Sushi, which has been “coming soon” since June.

So the question is: With Montague Street thriving, what gives with the previous locale of Starbucks at 112 Montague Street? We reported then that the coffee shop vacated the premises because of roof leaks and plumbing issues. But it’s now approaching five months that the prime commercial space has been sitting vacant. It’s a bit confounding that such a premier retail entity continues to waste away. So we have to wonder… What’s the deal? (Interior shot below)

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/48617

Fans of Starbucks in Brooklyn Heights may be interested to know that you’ve got the fanciest java in the borough. According to Gothamist, the store at 134 Montague Street has been employing the ooh la la “Clover” brewing system since May.

The machine is described as an upside-down French press, with coffee brewed one cup at a time. “Depending on the size of the serving, ground coffee is weighed and added to a hollow chamber at the top of the machine where it is met by a stream of steaming hot water. The mixture is manually stirred and scraped by a barista, then strained into a cup by the machine shortly after,” the website says.

Starbucks, which purchased the company that manufactures Clover in 2008, only uses its “exotic and rare” Reserve line of coffees to brew in the machine. The “exquisite” coffee “brings out the best of what these beans have to offer,” according to Starbucks. Each machine costs $13,000.

While there are 23 Clover outposts in Manhattan, the only Brooklyn-equipped Starbucks at Montague Street in the Heights is selling about 50 cups of Clover-brewed coffee per day, at $5 per cup, Gothamist says. Starbucks describes the machine as “a true innovation that comes along only once in a while.”

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45495

Have you ever met a Starbucks that didn’t do boffo business? The recent move of the Brooklyn Heights’ locale from the open & airy 134 Montague Street to the long & narrow 112 Montague doesn’t appear to have cut down on the number of Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino Blendeds being served in the neighborhood. (More photos below the jump.)

Meanwhile, the new Starbucks location at Fulton Mall’s 348 Fulton Street, which opened earlier this month across from Shake Shack and next to the spanking new Brooklyn Industries, appears to be satisfying coffee lovers with equal gusto.

The same can’t be said for Downtown Brooklyn’s Seattle’s Best, which opened its first standalone store in the borough at 253 Livingston Street & Bond Street on June 21. Earlier this week, a stop inside revealed not a single customer. The somewhat desolate location is set apart from the neighborhood’s gentrifying commerce and is situated in a building that is thus far undeveloped.

The irony, of course, is that Seattle’s Best, founded in 1970, became a subsidiary of Starbuck’s at the dawn of the millennium.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)
Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights
348 Fulton Street, Fulton Mall
253 Livingston Street

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/44690