Early Starbucks store won't renew lease in downtown Libertyville

Businesses routinely come and go in commercial areas, but now and then a store closing becomes community news.

So it is with the pending departure of Starbucks from downtown Libertyville, which has prompted a public scolding of sorts from Mayor Terry Weppler.

For 25 years, the coffee giant has occupied a prominent corner at 542 N. Milwaukee Ave. It's one of the older Starbucks locations in the area.

But sales have slipped there, and the company doesn't plan to renew the lease when it expires at the end of June 2020. It's a rare action for what has become a ubiquitous brand.

"We're not in the business of closing stores," said Dean Klein, Starbucks' director of store development for the Midwest region.

"When we do make these difficult decisions to close and not renew, people really care," he added.

Weppler, who worked behind the scenes to try to keep the coffee giant downtown, said it's like losing part of the community fabric, a place to meet with friends or work.

"Unfortunately, the philosophy of Starbucks (that made them successful) has changed," Weppler bristled in a recent Facebook post. "At this point they are a glorified drive-through coffee shop."

Landlord Ben Lovinger offered not to increase rent and to make space next door available for expansion. But despite that and Weppler's plea to the company, Starbucks upheld the decision not to renew the lease when it expires June 30.

"Things could change," Klein said, but he added it would be "highly unlikely" the lease would be renewed. Starbucks also operates in Libertyville about a mile north on Route 137 and Milwaukee Avenue.

Starbucks was a little-known chain when it opened the location in September 1994 on the ground floor at School Street and Milwaukee Avenue in a building built in 1903 for the First Bank of Libertyville.

Lovinger said his father, Jeff, signed the lease for Store No. 273 in Palm Desert, California, with Howard Schultz, Starbucks' original chairman and CEO.

He said Starbucks' arrival played a role in the redevelopment of downtown Libertyville. It is one of the few businesses that remains from that time. At the end of 1994, the company reported having 425 locations. It now has 31,256.

Klein told Lovinger that the Libertyville location is one of the lowest sales volume stores operated by Starbucks in the Chicago area.

"We've been negotiating for quite some time. It was a numbers decision," Lovinger said. "We see this as a flagship store for them and a great tenant for us. We don't want them to leave."

Weppler said there are other options for those looking for a cup of coffee or a welcoming spot to visit.

"The good news is we've got Hansa (Coffee Roasters); we've got Birdie's (Coffee House); we'll have Conscious Cup (Coffee Roasters) - we won't be a coffee desert," he said.