"Starbucks Bringing More Than Just Coffee"

When it comes to being a student, there are a few vital necessities to get through college- coffee is no. 1.
A newly added Starbucks opens Sept. 19, on the second floor of the J.D. Williams library, fulfilling Ole Miss students’ daily caffeine quota. Starbucks is replacing Java City and was funded by ARAMARK Educational Services, Inc.
Joshua Halliday, Ole Miss marketing programs manager, said Java City was replaced due to changing customer demands.
“Ole Miss Dining, in partnership with The University of Mississippi, is always looking for new ways to enhance and improve our dining program,” Halliday said. “Last academic year, Ole Miss Dining conducted a semester long market research project, evaluating the services that we offer the University to address changing customer demands, as well as evaluating under serviced parts of campus.”
Ole Miss Campus Dish said Starbucks will feature a full service menu. They also said students will be able to find all of the items featured in any Starbucks location in the country, ranging from coffee and frozen beverages to pastry shop treats.
Latrice Fox, a student librarian worker, said she thinks Starbucks will do a lot better than Java City, especially because of Starbucks’ variety.
“I feel that it’ll bring in a lot more money than Java City because it offers a lot more food than Java City did and probably a lot better food and a lot more diverse coffee,” Fox said.
Ryan Johnson, head of information services and associate professor said Starbucks will be a positive addition in the library.
“It’s going to expand the service that was already there, the Java City just bigger. It will probably have broader options, that way it will be a plus for everybody,” Johnson said.
Halliday said he thinks the Starbucks also will be a beneficial change in dining options.
“Since our market research was the driving force behind this decision, I am confident that ‘yes,’ it will be a positive addition that will better accommodate our growing and changing student population,” he said.
With the influx of students and the demand for coffee, Johnson said Starbucks could potentially add additional noise to that area of the library.
“That portion of the library up there will probably get louder, with more noise in the back room, more noise in the Starbucks area, and we’ll end up with more noise up there,” Johnson said. “The nature of what will happen up there will be less individual study and more group study.”
Noelle Ludlum, a UM accounting junior, said she thinks there needs to be more work done to update UM, before adding a new Starbucks.
“The campus could use a lot more things before adding a Starbucks,” she said. “A lot of the buildings need updating, as simple as air conditioning, or more parking so we don’t always get tickets,” Ludlum said.
Fox agrees that the limited parking space needs to be fixed before smaller projects are taken on.
“I’ve been saying this since I’ve been here, we need more parking and not all these random businesses, but I guess all these small businesses will eventually give money to help pay for the bigger things, like getting more parking.”
Halliday said there are other benefits to implementing Starbucks.
“The expanded offerings will also help allow students studying to stay in the library when needed without having to leave for drinks and food,” Halliday said. “The expanded Starbucks location has also added an additional 60 plus seats for student groups to gather and work together on projects.”