New Starbucks at Colonial and 6-Mile in Fort Myers would be drive-thru only
A new kind of coffee shop may become the first of its kind for Starbucks in Southwest Florida, and maybe even the rest of the world
The Fort Myers City Council will vote to approve plans for a drive-in only Starbucks at Colonial Boulevard and Ben C. Pratt Six Mile Cypress Parkway in the northeast corner of the Walmart parking lot.
It means drive and go at the coffee shop. No more bantering with baristas. No entering the store. Customers will remain in their vehicles in one of two queues, one for customers who ordered remotely, the other for customers who pull in without an order.
Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Corp. wants to roll out the “double drive-thru” at the Starbucks Supercenter on Six Mile. A small parking area will be available for employee parking and deliveries, but not for public use.
"This is literally the first of its type in the world, the prototype," said Adam Bumberg, of Zimble Development Inc. of Lithia, southeast of Tampa, who is managing the project.
"The concept has no pedestrians, this is the only one that will be for drive-thru only," Bumberg said. "The only people in the store will be operators at the store, probably about eight at a time."
To allow construction of the coffee shop on part of the Walmart Superstore property, the city council will be asked to approve an amendment to the property's Planned Unit Development status. The technical zoning change would be similar to one made to allow the construction of a Burger King and a Chick-fil-A next to the Walmart store along Colonial Boulevard.
The city planning board, which makes recommendations to the full council, voted unanimously to reject the idea as being dangerous to pedestrians and bicycle riders. How many pedestrians or bike riders would trek to the obscure far reaches of the Walmart parking lot is unclear, especially when a newly opened, full-service Starbucks that is six-tenths of a mile to the south, and a full-service Starbucks is at The Forum on the other side of Colonial, also less than a mile away.
The Seattle Times reported last year that the company plans for 35% of its new stores to be drive-thru-only and another 14% will be pick-up only.
“It is kind of a new concept, the first of its kind. Starbucks has chosen this location to do this first concept of just drive through because it seems like we are moving toward quicker service,” said project engineer Kyle Glorioso of Tampa-based Level UP Development. “Drive through, in-and-out, get your coffee and just go -- they’ve had a lot more success with mobile orders. It’s becoming more popular so they are trying with a mobile order pick-up only lane."
There are two entrances to the proposed site, one on Six Mile Parkway where the Bealls and Walmart properties share a common driveway.
The other entrance to the main parking area is through an entrance off Colonial Boulevard westbound, which leads to a tight, two-lane roadway that leads drivers past a gas station, a Burger King and a Chick-Fil-A.
No date has been set for city council consideration of the proposal.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Starbucks planned in Fort Myers would be world's first drive thru only
