A new bean in town?
Student coffee shop may switch brands due to machine upkeep costs
Nathan Carter
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
Lately, the coffee machine in Spiva Library has had several breakdowns and Missouri Southern officials are concerned.
"Sometimes we've gone as much as a day without the espresso machine," said Michael Wonderly, food service director for Sodexo.
University officials say the constant breakdowns have been both frustrating and costly. When the machine was purchased in 2003, it cost $10,145, according to Hiedi Carlin, director of purchasing. In the last 13 months, repairs have cost $11,099.02, and the machine itself has been paid for more than three times over in repairs since 2003.
"The bad thing is the machine was initially purchased through Starbucks and the Starbucks representative has only been out to see us one time since we purchased the machine in 2003," Carlin said. "When they send a repairman to have the machine serviced, we pay an excessive amount in travel cost, repair and labor."
With these expenses in mind, the school is looking at a possible change. While some would expect high temperament from the coffee drinkers, the students at Southern seem to be more reserved.
"I don't drink much coffee," said Blake Brooks, sophomore history major. "I just drink it every once in a while. I drink whatever is there. I don't go looking for it. I just grab Starbucks whenever it's across the street from the game shop."
Others believe that while they should not be drinking Starbucks, they don't mind fueling their caffeine addiction.
"If the coffee shop were to switch brands, it depends what brand it would be," said Christian Raska, graduated international studies major. "So long as it's good, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I like Starbucks. It looks nice. I probably shouldn't be supporting Starbucks because they are evil, but they have good coffee."
Carlin says since the University owns the machine, the University coffee shop is not officially a Starbucks.
"What a lot of folks don't know is that it's not really a Starbucks coffee shop," she said. "It's our coffee shop and we choose to use Starbucks coffee. There's no franchise fee paid. There's no licensing fee paid to Starbucks. If you have a gift card to Starbucks, you're not allowed to use that in the coffee shop because it's not a true Starbucks entity. The only reason we're allowed to put up the sign is because we serve the coffee. It's like a gentlemen's agreement. As long as we don't sell any other coffee in there, we can advertise for them."
"Sometimes we've gone as much as a day without the espresso machine," said Michael Wonderly, food service director for Sodexo.
University officials say the constant breakdowns have been both frustrating and costly. When the machine was purchased in 2003, it cost $10,145, according to Hiedi Carlin, director of purchasing. In the last 13 months, repairs have cost $11,099.02, and the machine itself has been paid for more than three times over in repairs since 2003.
"The bad thing is the machine was initially purchased through Starbucks and the Starbucks representative has only been out to see us one time since we purchased the machine in 2003," Carlin said. "When they send a repairman to have the machine serviced, we pay an excessive amount in travel cost, repair and labor."
With these expenses in mind, the school is looking at a possible change. While some would expect high temperament from the coffee drinkers, the students at Southern seem to be more reserved.
"I don't drink much coffee," said Blake Brooks, sophomore history major. "I just drink it every once in a while. I drink whatever is there. I don't go looking for it. I just grab Starbucks whenever it's across the street from the game shop."
Others believe that while they should not be drinking Starbucks, they don't mind fueling their caffeine addiction.
"If the coffee shop were to switch brands, it depends what brand it would be," said Christian Raska, graduated international studies major. "So long as it's good, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I like Starbucks. It looks nice. I probably shouldn't be supporting Starbucks because they are evil, but they have good coffee."
Carlin says since the University owns the machine, the University coffee shop is not officially a Starbucks.
"What a lot of folks don't know is that it's not really a Starbucks coffee shop," she said. "It's our coffee shop and we choose to use Starbucks coffee. There's no franchise fee paid. There's no licensing fee paid to Starbucks. If you have a gift card to Starbucks, you're not allowed to use that in the coffee shop because it's not a true Starbucks entity. The only reason we're allowed to put up the sign is because we serve the coffee. It's like a gentlemen's agreement. As long as we don't sell any other coffee in there, we can advertise for them."
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