Seattle-based Starbucks is bringing a new coffee shop to midtown Atlanta. The new Starbucks will open in place of the shuttered Arby's restaurant at 744 Spring Street. Arby's closed the location this past November, and I immediately got a tip that Starbucks was the likely replacement. I reached out to Palmer Bayless who represents Starbucks locally and he was unable to confirm any plans.
It seems now that the deal is final and work will soon begin to convert the building for Starbucks. Last year, Starbucks announced that 60 percent of the 1,500 new stateside locations planned to open through the next five years will have drive-thru windows. The existing Arby's drive-thru would seem to work perfectly to both follow this planned growth and to capitalize on a previously untapped drive-thru market in midtown.
Starbucks operates a handful of locations in midtown already, including one at Barnes & Noble at Technology Square, about a block from the new Starbucks. Starbucks also has a location at 7th and Peachtree, about a half mile from the new location.
