Published: June 24, 2009 08:07 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: Crowne's Starbucks will be closing

The last cup of coffee will soon be served at the Starbucks inside Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Starbucks corporate officials have contacted the hotel’s owner about ending its service contract, but the actual closing date hasn’t been finalized, according to Crowne Plaza General Manager Mark Bibb.

Employees at the site told a Niagara Gazette reporter they were notified of the closing and their last day of work would be this Sunday. However, Bibb said those statements are inaccurate and negotiations are continuing.

“It will be open Monday, there’s still a glimmer of hope,” Bibb said. “I can tell you I do think it’s going to close, it’s just a matter of when.”

Starbucks began operating out of the hotel’s lobby in 2006, shortly after a $25 million renovation by Sentry Hospitality to upgrade the property from a Holiday Inn Select to a Crowne Plaza hotel. Employee Keven Aube said the specialty coffee shop had a steady stream of customers and that tips were often very good. He added he would miss seeing the regular customers who stop in the shop.

“It’s been the best company I’ve worked for so far,” said Aube, who has worked at the store since May. “I’ve just had so much fun working here.”

Aube, 20, said since the coffee shop was his second job, he wouldn’t suffer too much from the closing, but that he knew of several others who had quit jobs to pick up more hours at Starbucks. He estimated about 13 part-time and full-time employees currently work at the site.

Starbucks has 4,500 coffeehouses in 47 countries. Last year, the company announced the closing of 600 company-owned stores due to economic hardships. According to its second quarter fiscal report for 2009, the company had net revenues of $2.3 billion, a decrease of 7.6 percent.

Bibb said Starbucks is within its rights to opt out of the operations agreement. Despite the loss of the popular franchise, he said the Crowne Plaza will begin offering a high-scale coffeehouse in another section of its lobby and the affected employees will continue as part of the contingency plan.

“We’re confident that we can provide equal or better service,” he said. “We have a terrific plan in place.”

The Crowne Plaza received some negative attention late last year after its part-owner, Namwest, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Based in Phoenix, Namwest owns the hotel through a partnership with Sentry Hospitality. The collaboration, named NS Partners, was not named in the bankruptcy proceedings.

The 400-room hotel has been targeted as the site for Niagara County Community College’s Culinary Arts Institute but a contract hasn’t been finalized.

Bibb said Namwest filing for protection had no impact on Starbucks impending departure and it also hasn’t negatively effected business.

“The hotel is doing extremely well,” he said.