Friday, Sept. 8, Starbucks Coffee Company officially opened a new location at 327 Richmond Road at 6:00 a.m. The establishment is across the street from the College of William and Mary’s Bryan Complex and adjacent to Wawa.
The Starbucks replaces the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research, which occupied the building for nearly 30 years until Aug. 26, 2022, soon after which renovations to build the Starbucks began. The Center for Archaeological Research is now located on Holmes House at 308 Jamestown Road.
The first customer was a firefighter for York County named Zach who came to the location because his wife works at the coffee shop.
He ordered a Trenta black iced tea with sweetener and a Venti iced water at around 6:05 a.m.
“I like how the architecture is on the inside and outside of the building as well, and the location is pretty awesome,” Zach said.
While the coffee house officially opened on Sept. 8, they hosted a Family and Friends Night on Thursday, Sept. 7. Invited guests and interested passers-by were treated to free drinks in advance of the official first day.
