Palatine Metra Starbucks closes but there is interest for new coffee shop

The Starbucks inside the Metra station in Palatine is closing today after nearly 20 years, but the village already has received inquiries from prospective new coffee shop owners.

Starbucks workers were moving supplies out of the store at 137 W. Wood St., Monday as customers showed up to order their favorite drinks one last time. A note on the door announced the imminent closure.

“I am really sad about it,” said Lesley Arizmendi of Palatine, a customer for about 10 years. “I specifically went today because I knew it was the last day. That Starbucks is part of our community.”

Starbucks corporate representatives didn't respond to requests for comment. Workers at the Palatine location said they were being relocated to other stores in the area.

Starbucks' lease with the village of Palatine for the space started July 1, 2001. The current lease is $1,365 per month and runs out June 30. The company didn't exercise its option to renew by Jan. 1, Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.

“This is unfortunate,” Ottesen said of the closure, “but understandable given the impact the pandemic has had on the commuter volume, which was a significant customer base.”

Rumors about the Starbucks closing began circulating last month but the company in past years renewed its lease at the last minute, so it was unclear what would happen until the deadline, Ottesen said.

“We have already had three people that operate coffee stores contact us when they were hearing the same rumors ... ” Ottesen said. “We told them all that once we had formal notice (or no notice in the case of not extending) that we would start a process to fill the space, which we intend to do right away.”

Arizmendi said she frequented the Metra station Starbucks daily until she stopped commuting in August 2019. Her husband, also a commuter, was a daily customer until mid-March, when he started working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The family continued to patronize the store during the pandemic, albeit less frequently, she said.

Despite Starbucks being a corporate giant, the location was special because of its cozy feel and friendly employees who treated customers with a personal touch, she said. There was the time an employee noticed Arizmendi's mobile order didn't include her husband's favorite almond milk, so the order was corrected. Another time, an employee gave her a big hug after finding out her father had died.

“It's a small local coffee shop, even if it's a Starbucks,” she said.