A big change is coming. An exciting change. A revolution.
The local grocery store, Willie’s, is getting an extensive remodel. They’re going to get a new paint job, new style of sign, yadda yadda yadda, who cares, but the most shocking renovation of all is that they’re going to include a coffee shop.
A Caribou Coffee Shop will be added to the deli area.
We have a coffee shop in town, the Common Cup, which is very nice and I plan to continue giving them my business, but they have limited hours — they close at 6pm! — and are not open on Sundays. Willie’s is open 7am-10pm seven days a week. This is great news.
I am going to be so over-caffeinated, I’m afraid.
Can I still give my name as “MAGA” so they have to say that out loud, resulting in my owning the libs?
(I kid, of course. Coffee is vile.)
And it’s not a Starbucks?!! There is progress after all.
@ randal
That was my thought too.
All our local Hy-Vee grocery stores have a starbucks. But our hospital has a Java House and two satellite Java House counters. The Java Houses closes early though. So this grocery store trend has invaded Morris, what next?
We used to have Caribous around here. The franchisee went bankrupt a few years ago. I miss them, they have some very nice dark roast coffees. Obsidian and Mahogany are the blends. Good earthy coffees. I love coffee.
Oh! I remember Willie’s Red Owl, at the old location, very well, from about, oh, 1964? First place I ever bought a $100,000 bar. I’m glad it’s still a family business.
Ooo Caribou Coffee, fancy schmancy. Our Shop-Rite has a Dunkin Donuts, cause that’s how we roll here in Jersey. Of course, the Target has a Starbucks, but that’s only because zoning requires one every 1000 feet.
I wish we had anything other than Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts around here. Caribou, the few times I’ve been, have been less over-sweetened than Starbucks, and possibly better coffee overall. I miss the Oregon and Washington state coffee stands and their good coffees, even though I’ve only visited there a few times.
As for being over-caffeinated, that will only last a few months; you’ll get used to the availability and buy it less often after a while.
I’m Australian, so I’m trying to work out if Caribou only do like, drip coffees, or if they have normal things like cappucinos and lattes and maybe a sneaky bacon and egg roll in the mornings and then realise that the Australian definition of ‘normal’ coffee is probably not the same as Morris County’s definition of ‘normal’ coffee.
Really, I do not comprehend some people’s enthusiasm for coffee shops. The coffee I make at home is a hundred times better than in any coffee shop I know.
Whoot, coffee x2!
One of the things I miss most about living in Oregon is the proliferation of coffee kiosks. Drive through coffee kiosks, to be precise. Here In NC drive up windows for coffee are only just beginning to be a thing, mostly one still needs to order ones caffeine in a proper restaurant like setting with parking spaces and landscaping, one does not find random roadside coffee stands.
@Matt, outside of the home Americans get their coffee in a wide variety of quality and styles.
For instance the average work place has an industrial coffee maker. These stainless steel monstrosities are generally never cleaned. The coffee place into them is typically asphalt dust that is bitter and weak and people only drink it because of a strong addiction to caffeine they need to stay awake. Usually they used flavored creamers and sugar to make this drinkable.
Next you have a wide variety of places that sell drip coffee of varying quality. Your fast food joints, your gas station convenience stores, and your coffee shops. Generally these places serve the same coffee all the time so your only hope of finding a decent quality cup is to try them all and keep your fingers crossed. You never know when the coffee was made so even going to the same place can give a varied experience.
Lastly you have coffee shops. Here you have hopefully fresh ground beans giving the best flavor for your drip coffee as well as your espresso drinks. Generally lattes, cappuccinos, and various cold versions of the same drinks can be had. A seemingly favorite drink at these locations is the “Americano”, which is espresso diluted with water to the same weak consistency as the average drip coffee. There are some notable regional specific coffee styles. The large cuban population in Florida use a very finely ground coffee in a drip machine to make an almost espresso and use heavy cream and lots of sugar, this is called a cuban coffee. New Orleans, adds chicory bark into the coffee before grinding and then serves with cream and sugar. Generally speaking depending on where in America you are determines how big the town needs to be to be able to financially support a coffee shop. The real benefit of the coffee shop is the ability to get coffee made to your specific taste.
In summary if you visit America please understand that we drink a lot of shitty coffee because we are caffeine addicts and if you want anything decent you have to make it yourself or find an actual coffee shop.
Supermarkets run on razor thin margins. A coffee shop, like a deli selling sandwiches or a pharmacy, can make a big difference in their economic viability. You can say what you will about supermarkets wiping out grocers, butchers, bakers and delis, but they are important institutions in a lot of towns, and losing them can do a lot of damage. A lot of them are even unionized. Imagine, in this day and age.
Let’s hope this Caribou does well. People need coffee, and they need supermarkets.
Heh. I’ve been living in places — currently S.France — where really good café is like pubs in Ireland: It’s illegal to be more than 100 metres from one. Main problem locally was, until recently, shops selling beans(or ground coffee), there weren’t any sellers in the village centre, just a few “gourmet food specialty”-type shops (pricey with a small selection), or pre-ground bags in other shops. Fortunately, a specialist shop opened up end-ish last year, saving a trip out to the hypermarket wasteland (where there is another specialist shop).