The first Starbucks at UC Santa Barbara will open in the University Center (UCen) this fall, replacing Nicoletti’s, a café that has been on campus for more than 25 years.
The university will own and operate the location and employ UCSB students, according to Sue Hawkins, director of dining services in the UCen.
Starbucks will be replacing Nicoletti’s, a coffee shop in UC Santa Barbara’s University Center, this fall. Jenny Luo / Daily Nexus
Hawkins said a committee of faculty, staff and students evaluated bids for the location and decided the new Starbucks would be more popular among students. Starbucks is also expected to generate more revenue than Nicoletti’s, Hawkins said.
“It will do better than Nicoletti’s,” she said. “We think it’s something that the campus wants, and that’s our goal, to provide services that our campus constituents want and we think that Starbucks is one of those.”
A short blurb on the UCen website describes Nicoletti’s as “The only true coffeehouse on campus” and says the café “offers organic and Fair Trade coffees and espresso.”
Hawkins said while Starbucks does not provide fair trade certified coffee, its coffee is “fairly traded.”
Students who work at the new Starbucks will need to go through Starbucks training, but the location will be owned by UC Santa Barbara.
Other coffee locations around campus including The Arbor and The Corner Store will continue to serve Peerless Coffee, a roaster based in the Bay Area.
gross.
NO
Is this for certain the majority of how students at UCSB feel? I think not.
Bring in the big guys huh? What about the guys down at Green Star Coffee, roasting fair trade and organic coffee just a mile away from UCSB. Such a shame.
Good economic decision based on the popular mindset of a college student. People recognize the name “Starbucks” more than “Nicoletti’s”, and would be more inclined to go to the UCen for something they know and trust. Not to mention campus visitors.
The relationship better have gone south or the numbers for Starbuck’s better be amazing to break a 25 year old deal…
i like this. i get starbucks giftcards from family, but i never get nicolettis giftcards. it just means i dont have to go all the way to iv to get my discounted caffeine fix. i do really wish starbs had fair trade certified though, and i will miss that about nicolettis.
A wasted opportunity to have good coffee on campus : (
Why not French-Press or Handlebar or some other LOCAL coffee roaster?
I will never set a foot in there, never!
Local shops aren’t in the position to expand at any given time. Plus they wouldn’t want a location that’s dead for more than a quarter of the year. University owned is the only way a business works
I wish they’d have sightglass come in. I’m a SF hipster btw
I’ve been on campus with various statuses for those entire 25 years and have really appreciated Nicoletti’s uniqueness and varied offerings. I am very disappointed with the UCen management’s decision to replace them and further the corporatization of this campus. Hooray for suppressing difference! At least, the article suggests, I’ll be able to go elsewhere on campus to get the zucchini bread and old-fashioned glazed doughnuts, which are so much better than Starbucks’.
A dark day for UCSB.
Does this mean the coffee carts by the SRB and the HSSB are going to close down?
No, those will stay.
Noooooooo! Nicoletti’s is special for UCSB. I love Starbucks, but the one in IV is close enough. Nicoletti’s is an icon of the UCen! I’ve worked at both places, and I’m 100% positive that the zucchini bread at Starbucks doesn’t even compare to Nicoletti’s.
I don’t care about desserts, just about coffee :) In my experience, frankly, Starbucks is usually better than Nicoletti’s and the other UCSB-run coffee shops on campus. I just hope that stays the same with a UCSB-run Starbucks staffed by student labor…. which is what the rest of the mediocre coffee shops on campus already are.
Fuck Starbucks.
will the hours change?? I think the coffee shop in the ucen, whether nicoletti’s or starbucks, could generate so much more $$ by staying open later!
Nicolettis is great….but I can’t get a treinta iced coffee at anywhere, but Starbucks. I feel bad, but at the same time, this is capitalism.
I can’t wait to get a decent place to get coffee on campus. Nicoletti’s coffee isn’t very good, no matter how you put it. If I’m going to buy overpriced coffee, it might as well be starbucks.