The main reason Starbucks is closing
 It was never really David vs. Goliath � 
By Hearne Christopher Jr. (12/16)
    A presumed war between the bohemian Broadway Caf� and buttoned-down Starbucks was over the day the massive coffeehouse chain opened its doors in Westport nine years ago.
    Fact is, it was more a business etiquette/ethics play.
    Westport Square owner Doug Weltner blindsided his tenant, Broadway owner Sara Honan, by leasing the corner location next to her business to Starbucks. It was anticipated it would be a reasonably hip proposition. Little did we know.
    Instead, the genteel new Starbucks was the polar opposite of the laid-back, hippie-ish Broadway Cafe. No way would the free-spirited members of Broadway�s coffee klatch be caught dead in a Starbucks.
   Nor would the more mainstream frequenters of Starbucks set foot in Broadway Cafe. �It�s absolutely a different crowd,� says longtime Westport businessman Bill Nigro. �The Starbucks customers are more shirt and tie, more the professional type of person.�
    The real reason Starbucks is pulling out of Westport probably has more to do with geography, Nigro says. �There�s really no parking for Starbucks customers in Westport,� he says. �Plus they�ve opened up a Starbucks a quarter mile away on Main with plenty of parking and a drive-through. That�s really what hurt the one in Westport.�
    On top of all that, there are five high-end coffee sellers within walking distance of Broadway and Starbucks, Nigro says. �Westport�s kind of coffee-ed out,� he says. �If you think there�s a lot of pizza places in Westport, there are really a lot of coffee places. They�re surrounded by coffee places.�
   Westport Flea Market owner Joe Zwillenberg, who also happens to be Starbucks� landlord at its successful new Main Street operation, agrees that its departure from Westport has nothing to do with losing business to Broadway Caf�.
    �I absolutely agree. I think that was not the reason whatsoever,� Zwillenberg says. �I know they�re doing good business in Westport, but I�m told the Starbucks on Main is now the top-grossing Starbucks in town.�

Westport Starbucks closing; Broadway Cafe left standing
By Joyce Smith,The Kansas City Star (12/11)
     Hometown favorite Broadway Cafe has been going head-to-head against multibillion-dollar next-door neighbor Starbucks in midtown for nine years. But not for much longer.       
   Starbucks on Tuesday confirmed that it would close its store at 401 Westport Road in late winter. The Seattle-based chain, which has thousands of locations worldwide, hopes to place the coffee shop�s employees at other area Starbucks.
   So did the little cafe take down the giant chain store like some small-business David slaying a mighty corporate Goliath? Some might like to think so.
   Such comparisons were made in 1998, when Starbucks picked Westport � an area long known for its homegrown shops � for its first area location. The site was next door to and in the same center as the locally owned Broadway Cafe.
    Reaction was quick and vocal. More than 1,000 area residents signed petitions in support of local businesses and protested at the new Starbucks location. Broadway Cafe also appealed to city planners, saying Starbucks did not have the required parking spaces.
   An attorney for the then-landlord of both operations said at the time: �We disagree that this is a funeral march as far as (Broadway Cafe) is concerned.� Funeral? Well, that might make the owner of a healthy business rush for a checkup.
   �I was nervous, I didn�t know how people would react,� said Sara Honan, co-owner of Broadway Cafe with Jon Cates. �But once (Starbucks) opened and people just didn�t flock next door I thought it was kind of funny that a Starbucks would be so close. We just did our own thing, making good coffee.�
    In 2003, Broadway Cafe opened a second location at 301 Westport Road and also relocated its roasting facility to the spot. That location is relocating to a former firehouse at 4012 Washington St. in 2008.
    �Sara is one of the best operators in Westport, if not the city, and sales at Broadway are pretty incredible,� said Brent Lambi, who purchased Westport Square, home to both coffeehouses, earlier this year. �But I never would have rented to another coffee shop. I wouldn�t have been able to show my face to Sara.�
     In a written statement, Starbucks did not say why it is closing the Westport location � its first in the area to close � only that it would continue to serve the community with its stores throughout the metro. Notably, Starbucks in 2006 opened a store at 4101 Main St. that is larger than the Westport store and attracts time-strapped consumers with a drive-through.
    �We evaluate our business with many measures to determine the best way to serve our customers,� said Kelly Hand, project manager for Starbucks, in a statement about the closing of the Westport location. �We thank our customers for their patronage and apologize for any inconvenience.�
    As for Lambi, he�s now looking for good local operators, not chains, to fill the �stellar� spot that Starbucks will leave behind on the high-traffic intersection of Broadway and Westport Road. �I will go so far to say I don�t think we should have chains in Westport,� Lambi said.