TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

A Giant Battle Brewing On Kennedy

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICHARD MULLINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

TAMPA - Anyone hoping to watch a corporate throw-down between fast food giant McDonald's Corp. and coffee giant Starbucks is in for a treat.

As the two rivals increasingly move into each other's markets, they soon will have locations about 100 feet apart near downtown Tampa - close enough to smell each other's Frappuccinos and Big Macs.

Starbucks Corp. is building a location on Kennedy Avenue about a mile from Tampa's downtown skyscrapers, across the side street South Dakota Avenue from the McDonald's on Kennedy at South Dakota. Starbucks and McDonald's will offer more upscale breakfast items and gourmet coffees. And both will be open 24 hours a day.

McDonald's has one of its higher-end locations there, run by the local franchisee Caspers Co. and tailor-made for busy downtown office workers with its dual drive-through lanes for ordering. On some busy days when the line of cars stretches out, McDonald's workers walk from car to car with wireless tablets taking orders to speed the flow.

McDonald's also is adding more upscale features for the latte-set customers: Wi-Fi Internet access, plasma TVs, caramel cappuccinos, mochas and a modern decor.

On the other side of South Dakota Avenue, Starbucks is building a facility with its own new features, potentially opening by early November. The building will be more slender, just a half-dozen yards wide, 1,800-square-feet inside - room enough for a few tables but built primarily to leave space for a drive-through lane around its east side.

As for food, Starbucks is experimenting with more breakfast items - an arena in which McDonald's makes much of its profits. Starbucks is rolling out things such as hot oatmeal, apple bran muffins, a "protein plate" with hardboiled egg and whole-wheat bagel, and a multigrain roll with fruit or almond preserves.

This comes as Starbucks tries redefining itself, pulling back its expansion and closing about 600 U.S. locations. Five Starbucks locations in Tampa Bay have closed or will close: at Racetrack Road and Hillsborough Avenue, University Mall, Westfield Citrus Park Westfield Countryside in Clearwater; and Kapok Cove and McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater.

This year, a Starbucks shop at the north end of Bayshore Boulevard was supposed to open, but Starbucks canceled that plan.

The former used car lot on Kennedy Avenue provided Starbucks with enough drive-by traffic and visibility to plan that location.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT