It’s the time of year when the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing and more and more pumpkin spice lattes are being consumed.
The Lory Student Center recently opened up Intermissions, a café that serves Starbucks coffee. Colorado State University students are looking forward to now having their seasonal Starbucks beverages on campus, but Intermissions isn’t really a Starbucks, according to Geoff Valdez, assistant director for retail operations of LSC dining services.
This means that among other ways that it differs from Starbucks, Intermissions can’t accept Starbucks gift cards.
“We’re on a platform with Starbucks as a proudly serving patient,” Valdez said. “We can’t accept gift cards — we don’t have the ability to. We are not a part of their rewards program. We accept Visa, MasterCards, Discover, cash and RamCash.”
Valdez said Intermissions is not serving food yet and isn’t serving all Starbucks beverages. However, seasonal drinks are being served.
“There are always challenges. We don’t have all the equipment. We are still waiting on a couple of pieces,” Valdez said. “Although, truthfully, that was one of the smoothest openings we’ve ever had. We have really good staff and management in there. They’re really enthusiastic right now.”
Valdez said that after surveying students, adding Starbucks to the LSC was a very popular option and has been under consideration for many years. It opened Sept. 8.
Senior health and exercise science major Noel Hawkey said having seasonal Starbucks drinks is a great thing, but she still appreciates the other coffee shops on campus.
“I know how much people flip out over pumpkin spice lattes and that sort of thing, but I do also like Blendz and the other types of coffee they have on campus because it adds more variety,” Hawkey said.
According to Hawkey, Intermissions will benefit students who are not able to go off campus for coffee or students who are not aware of all the coffee places around campus.
“I’m a senior and a lot of my classes aren’t anywhere close to the LSC, so I never really get the chance to go there, but I think it will benefit younger students,” Hawkey said.
Intermissions offers more options in terms of drinks and helps to prevent those long lines for beverages, Valdez said.
“I think students are always short on time, so I think the wait times in the Student Center will be less,” Valdez said. “I also think the added benefit is it’s very easy to open in the evenings.”
Claire Keckritz, a sophomore business major, said she thinks Starbucks lovers will appreciate the new addition. There are already a lot of other coffee shops on campus, but since those do fill up fast, it will be one more place for people to go, she said.
“I think it is a good idea because Starbucks is such a popular kind of coffee,” Keckritz said. “For me personally, I think it’s worth it to go to the actual Starbucks because I can earn points on my rewards card and I go there so much I actually know some of the people there, but I’ll definitely still try the new Starbucks on campus.”
Collegian Reporter Pam Shapiro can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @pbshapiro.
