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Starbucks Coffee store number 10,123 opened in Hudson
at 5:30 a.m. Friday, March 24. The coffee shop hosted
a friends and family event Thursday to kick off its
entry in the Hudson market.
The atmosphere was almost giddy as people clamored in
for their favorite drinks and samples of baked goods,
which are delivered fresh daily from the French Meadow
Bakery in Minneapolis. For coffee lovers, Starbucks'
arrival in Hudson offers another choice for a sit-down
break or to drive through for a specialty drink.
The Hudson store, managed by Hudson resident Stacia
Amundson, offers one of the company's new interior
concepts - a modern, clean, less busy look,
functional for families and friends. It seats 18 to
20 inside and 12 to 15 outside on the patio.
"It is a place outside of work and home that
people choose to go," said Amundson, who got her
start in the coffee business at the Commuter Cup located
in Plaza 94. A Rice Lake native who worked at Barker's
while finishing college, she earned a degree at UW-River
Falls in sociology and went on to work at La Belle Vie
in Stillwater. During that time she helped get the Commuter
Cup started and then went on to manage the Starbucks
store on Grand Avenue in St. Paul until she was selected
to open and manage the Hudson Starbucks.
The nation's largest purveyor of coffee has over
11,000 locations worldwide in 36 countries; over 7,000
of the shops are located in all of the 50 states in
the United States.
"It is great to be back in Hudson and see so
many familiar faces," said Amundson. "It
is also terrific to be able to provide a good work environment
for 22 employees, 75 percent from Hudson." Starbucks
was named one of the 100 top places to work in 2006
by Fortune Magazine.
The company was founded in 1971, with its first location
in Seattle's Pike Place Market. The store was
named after the first mate in Herman Melville's
"Moby Dick." When now-chairman Howard Schultz
joined the company in the early 1980s, a trip to Italy
added the element of espresso drinks to his vision for
the future.
Today the company's products include 30 blends
and single origin-coffees from farmers around the world,
Tazo Teas, Ethos water, bottled Frappuccino drinks and
an exclusive line of coffee making products from espresso
machines to grinders. The company owns Starbucks Hear
Music Label, Seattle's Best Coffee and Torrefazion
Italia.
"We also are known for our commitment to community,"
said Amundson. "We are looking forward to partnering
with local non-profit and community organizations."
In the Make your Mark program, the company matches employee
volunteer hours with cash contributions to designated
non profits of $10 for every hour worked (up to $1,000
per project). Last year, Starbucks contributed $800,000
corporatewide through this program. Hudson Community
Action is the first designated non profit to participate
in the program with the Hudson Starbucks.
Starbucks promotes social responsibility, which includes
their development of the Cafe Practices, a set of environmentally,
socially and economically responsible coffee-buying
guidelines.
"We try to create a good relationship with our
farmers," said Amundson.
Starbucks' Hudson location is open 5:30 a.m.-11
p.m. Monday through Sunday. The drive-thru is open the
same hours.
"The lives we live are so busy it causes stress,"
said Amundson. "We have created a place for you
to take a break. It is a soft place to land when you
need to."
For more information go online at www.starbucks.com
or call the local store at (715) 386-3256.
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