PULLMAN, WASH – A new Starbucks may be heading to downtown Pullman soon, but some locals aren’t so happy about it.
The Pullman City Council is mulling a proposal to lease land to Forza Developments out of Utah to build a new Starbucks drive-thru on Main St. The new Starbucks would be located at the former Oasis Restaurant with a newly constructed drive-thru as well.
“It feels like a middle finger to the downtown community,” said Cj Robert, owner of Pups and Cups Cafe downtown.
Robert said that the traffic study done by Forza and presented to the city council is inaccurate. She said that the study was done during winter break, disregarding student traffic which is a high volume of cars on the road.
“Anyone that has done research or has an inclination about research knows how to alter a study in a way that would benefit the result,” said Robert.
The new Starbucks downtown would be the only business on Main street not locally owned.
“For the city to be so gung-ho about big business makes no sense because we’re the ones keeping this town alive,” said Robert.
Plans for the Starbucks have not been finalized. The city council will meet again about the lease in the coming months.
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