DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709260387

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   39 lines

STARBUCKS COFFEE OPENS INDEPENDENT STORE IN GREENBRIER

Starbucks Coffee has opened its first Chesapeake store off Greenbrier Parkway. The chain is famous for gourmet coffee, mocha, espresso and freshly baked pastries.

The restaurant is located in the Crossways Shopping Center near Greenbrier MarketCenter.

Starbucks Coffee has more than 1,200 retail locations. The Chesapeake store is the third Starbucks store in Hampton Roads. Other stores are located in Ghent and on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach.

Tim Woody-Lepre, an assistant manager of the Chesapeake store, said more locations are planned for the area.

Starbucks Coffee is also sold in Barnes & Noble Booksellers, but those locations are not part of the Starbucks chain.

Chesapeake's Starbucks store currently has a staff of 10 full- and part-time workers. Managers of the store said additional employees will be hired as the business gains exposure.

The Chesapeake restaurant also houses a learning center for Starbucks employees.

``Now employees won't have to travel to Richmond for training,'' said Woody-Lepre. The learning center will serve as the training headquarters for all the Hampton Road stores, he added.

Starbucks Coffee has been credited with the national coffee craze of recent years.

The company opened its first location in 1971 in Seattle, Wash., at an open-air farmer's market. In 1994, locations began opening in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. Today, Starbucks has chains in several states as well as internationally in Canada, Japan and Singapore. In addition, Starbucks is the exclusive supplier of coffee on every United Airlines flight.

Full and part-time employees of the company are eligible for company benefits, which include life insurance, health insurance and stock options.

Starbucks is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol SBUX.

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