The Blink has been serving Starbucks for several years now, but I think the student body is ready for a change. Starbucks is familiar and ubiquitous, and its seasonal drinks are fun, but it seems a missed opportunity to not be serving something more local.
Starbucks drove hundreds of small coffee shops out of business in the 1990s, but there’s been a growing movement to bring back more local places to gather, drink coffee, and engage in building community. Covenant has a great opportunity to participate in this movement.
Goodman’s coffee is local to Chattanooga, and, run by alumni, already has connections to the college, as well as being popular among students. Beyond that, there are dozens of small business coffee houses all through the city. It seems likely that the college could find a business interested in working with them to provide excellent coffee drinks to the students, staff and faculty who depend on The Blink for their daily dose of caffeine.
In terms of price, it seems hard to believe that a local roaster or shop would be more expensive than Starbucks coffee already is!
If students really want Starbucks, Rock City has one right down the road. But it would be nice to serve something a little more unique on campus and strengthen our connections to our local community as we do so.