By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ
COOKEVILLE – Cookeville will be getting a new Starbucks when Food City opens in December 2021. This will be the fourth Starbucks within the corporate limits of Cookeville.
“We are going to have a Starbucks here with all the tv’s and things so people can come here and use their computers and relax,” said Steve Smith, Food City president and CEO, following the store’s groundbreaking celebration.
Although a supermarket with a sit down coffee shop seems like a strange combination, it has been a successful one for Food City.
“We have been a Starbucks retailer now for about four years, and we’ve got 13 Starbucks planned to go in the rest of this year. Which is incredible,” Smith added. “That will get up to about 34 or 35. We’re fairly new in the business, but it’s been very rewarding and one our customers tell us they like.”
The original Cookeville Starbucks is located on Interstate Drive. This store is always busy and has prompted the addition of the new Starbucks currently under construction on South Willow Avenue. The third Starbucks is located on the bottom floor of Tennessee Tech’s Roaden University Center.
