Anthem Coffee and Starbucks closed their Stadium District shops. One will return
Anthem Coffee will reopen its Stadium District store Dec. 5, four months after calling it quits at that location.
“It’s a huge blessing to be back when we never thought we’d have another shot at this,” founder Bryan Reynolds told The News Tribune in a phone call.
The shop will open at 6 a.m. Monday. A grand opening celebration with giveaways and live music is in the works.
Staff that had been offered positions at the company’s six other Pierce County locations, including one in Old Town that “got a new burst of life,” will return. One former employee moved out of state, said Reynolds.
Why the change of heart?
A major ingredient was Starbucks closing its Stadium cafe in October. A company spokesperson said executives considered several factors when closing stores but specifically mentioned “safety and security” of staff and patrons as one reason for the demise of that location.
Signing a lease for a coffee shop across the street from the mega-chain was “an ambitious move” at the time, admitted Reynolds, “but the Stadium Apartments needed that kind of amenity.”
The largest Anthem cafe at 2,300 square feet, it struggled to find its footing, according to Reynolds. It opened in 2018, construction dragged on the Link in an area already tight on parking, and safety also became a growing concern. At one point, the Puyallup-based company hired private security during service hours, he said.
Perhaps most pointedly, though, the competition with Starbucks was difficult to counter — not to mention the three other coffee shops (Cosmonaut, North Slope inside Stadium Thriftway, Tacoma Java Co. which is moving to Sixth Avenue) in under a half-mile.
“We never really had a chance to get really going in that spot,” he said. “A lot of things were unpredictable.”
Its July decision was one in a wave of business closures on the stretch of 1st Street between Division and St. Helens: Rhein Haus and Wally’s Wisconsin Tavern re-concepted to make way for a Mexican restaurant and golf bar, and Tease Chocolates ended its run in September after almost a decade.
Reynolds said the company was in regular communication with its landlord and briefly explored subletting. “We left never with the thought in our mind that we’d ever be able to return,” he said.
They mulled the Starbucks news carefully, he said, and considered the influx of fresh faces, from the completion of Merrill Gardens, the senior living complex across from Wright Park, to Poquitos and Stadium Golf.
“I think the recipe is in place now,” said Reynolds.
Anthem will retool its approach to community building and connection at Stadium 2.0, he added, and in collaboration with the Stadium District Association, looks forward to more community events, such as the fall Art, Wine and Beer Walk.
ANTHEM COFFEE & TEA - STADIUM DISTRICT
▪ 102 N. G St., Tacoma, myanthemcoffee.com
▪ Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
▪ Details: cafe with coffee, tea, sandwiches and pastries reopening Dec. 5, follow instagram.com/anthemcoffee for grand-opening updates
