By: Sharon Aron Baron
Coffee lovers are in for a surprise when they visit the new Starbucks location on Friday morning: a brand new building, plus a drive thru window for those on the go.
On Thursday evening, Starbucks hosted a “friends and family” event to celebrate their new location which was formerly home to an Italian restaurant before it was gutted and remodeled. The event was a chance for employees and their families to mix with Regional Manager Manny Sarduy, District Manager Artie Dohler, and Store Manager Eddy Salazar, as well to enjoy deejay music and taste some of their famous coffee drinks and pastries.
Friends and residents of Kings Point enjoy some of the free samples during the “Friends and family” event.
Now closed is their location near Target at 5435 N. University Drive, which was smaller and didn’t have the seating to accommodate customers during busy times.
Artie Dohler, who has worked with Starbucks for 15 years said their development team scouted locations looking for an opportunity for a stand alone building and said it took almost five years. “We now understand that the way to go is to have that balance; having that nice cafe for customers as well as having the convenience of the drive thru. Those are really our most successful stores.”
As District Manager, Dohler oversees Starbucks locations in Parkland, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Sunrise and Plantation. So he must drink a lot of coffee, right?
“I have my coffee in the morning, but in the afternoon I go to tea.”
His favorite coffee is Starbucks dark roast. “Any dark roast,” he said. And he prefers it black – no cream or sugar. In the afternoons he enjoys the green tea, or a green tea lemonade.
Dohler suggests that if customers have any questions about coffees to talk to the baristas, who will get to know them and what they like and will make recommendations.
Dohler tries to be his own first customer at every new store opening.
“At 5:30 tomorrow morning, I’ll be the first customer. I got beat one time, but I try to be the first customer.”
Starbucks is located at 7720 West Commercial Blvd in Lauderhill (near Tamarac) and will be open from 5:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
