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Ybor neighborhood group urges calls to keep Starbucks open

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

Nathan Ortiz takes a sip of his coffee at the Starbucks at Centro Ybor, which is slated to close.

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By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 21, 2009

TAMPA - It isn't a full-fledged protest yet, but an Ybor City neighborhood association has launched a modest campaign to persuade Starbucks to stay at Centro Ybor.

The Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association is encouraging Starbucks fans to call the Seattle-based corporation and urge it to stay put at the Ybor City entertainment center. Starbucks revealed earlier this month it plans to leave Centro Ybor, but hasn't given a time or date.

On Monday, a company spokeswoman said Starbucks couldn't reveal why it was choosing to close certain locations, including the Ybor City site. It is closing at least 800 stores around the United States and another 100 worldwide.

The Ybor neighborhood association is torn between those who like Starbucks and those who don't think it fits with Ybor City's historic cigar-and-Cuban-coffee atmosphere. Tony LaColla, the group's president, acknowledged that he's indifferent about the Centro Ybor Starbucks. The association hasn't formally decided whether to ask Starbucks to stay.

However, the departure will hurt the local economy and it sends a bad signal that businesses will struggle in Ybor City, LaColla said.

So the group is encouraging calls to Starbucks. On its Web site, at www.hynca.com, the neighborhood association asks people to call Starbucks' customer hotline, at (800) 23-LATTE.

"I can't see how the store is losing money," said LaColla, who buys coffee there every other week. "They've got to be making profit."

Around 8 a.m. today, the store had only light traffic, with one or two visitors popping in every few minutes.

Starbucks may not have the local tradition of, say, a Cuban coffee house, but Theresa Barry, a regular customer who works for the federal government nearby, said it's is a big attraction for people in the area.

"Not everyone likes Cuban coffee," she said. "Starbucks is like a national enterprise."

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at msasso@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7865

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