The Daily O’Collegian

Sitting at the bar at The Third Place on a Saturday night, Derrick Wallace types on his laptop.

He doesn’t seem to notice the busy Strip outside buzzing with Orange-clad fans excited about the Cowboys’ first conference victory.

God Box, the band preparing to perform, doesn’t seem to distract him either. Nor does the group of college students playing Uno at a table mere feet away.

Instead, Wallace, an OSU alumnus, stays focused on his computer.

Wallace is a “3P regular.” He figures four visits per week is enough to earn him that status.

Ironically, the self-employed software consultant says he doesn’t like coffee.

“I’m not a crazy coffee buff,” he says. But he says he will drink blended drinks, with enough milk and sugar.

Wallace doesn’t come to Third Place because of the drinks. He comes for the atmosphere and he says that’s why he and others in the local coffee business aren’t worried about the news that the corporate giant, Starbucks Coffee, is slated to open in Stillwater soon.

Patrick Biggs, a barista at Third Place, says Third Place will be able to handle the competition. He cites 3P’s loyal customer base and doubts regular customers will give up on their local shop for the corporate coffee house.

Besides, Third Place’s close-to-campus location, 305 S. Washington St., makes it a great hangout for the college crowd, adds Biggs, who started working at Third Place this semester.

“If [Starbucks] opened right here on the corner of the Strip, we might have a problem,” says Biggs, a graphic design junior.

Wallace says he may try Starbucks to see what it’s like, but he says he definitely will not give up Third Place.

Wallace turns back to his computer as the band starts its set.

Meanwhile, about two miles away, mouselike patrons study quietly at Aspen Coffee, at 1323 S. Western Road.

Many of the customers agree the tranquil atmosphere is perfect for studying.

Ryan Howard, a nutrition graduate student, says he visits Aspen about three times a week. He usually studies, but tonight he is just “loitering.”

Aspen is “better than Starbucks,” Howard says, “because it’s bigger and close” to his house.

Jungin Jung, an athletic training junior, says he spends two hours a day at Aspen.

“I can concentrate” here, he says.

Curtis Johnson, a barista at Aspen, says Starbucks caters to the on-the-go business crowd, different from both Aspen’s morning customer base (professors and older residents) and nighttime patronage (studying college students).

Describing Starbucks, Johnson uses words such as “overpriced,” “not as good” and “bad atmosphere.”

Jenny Parnell, also a barista at Aspen, says she worked at a local coffee shop in Tulsa, where she guesses there were three Starbucks Coffee houses within a one-mile radius.

Parnell, a graphic design junior, says the chain did not ruin the Tulsa shop and she doubts it will harm Aspen.

She says Aspen customers may try Starbucks once or twice but “they’ll come back.”

Kelly Lyda, an Aspen co-owner, says he can’t pretend he hasn’t noticed the chain’s arrival. But he adds that plenty of cities and towns have local coffee shops, as well as Starbucks.

He says the chain is quick and well-known but it does not beat Aspen’s handmade drinks.

“They meet a need, but they don’t cater to the same crowd that we do. I respect their position in the marketplace and their marketing prowess,” Lyda says, “but hopefully there’ll be room … for everyone.”

Coffee houses aren’t the only businesses that might consider Starbucks a competitor.

Mohammad Mahmoud, general manager of the International House of Pancakes at 611 N. Main St., says plenty of his patrons order only coffee. They are mostly students who study late at night, he says.

IHOP’s 24-hour service will set his store apart from Starbucks, he says.

“After 10 o’clock, they’ll be closed,” Mahmoud says.

Mahmoud adds that IHOP offers free refills, an important feature for students who want to spend four or five hours studying.

“One cup of coffee is not enough,” he says.

Although local businesses aren’t worried about Starbucks stealing all the Stillwater business, it doesn’t seem that Starbucks should worry about a lack of customers either.

The Oklahoma State Network on the social networking site, http://facebook.com, has 14 groups dedicated to Starbucks, including “I Love Starbucks!!!” with 222 members; “I miss Starbucks…” with 176 members; and “We Need a Starbucks In Stillwater” with 28 members.

Kellye Raymond, a political science senior from New York, says she loves Starbucks.

At her internship in the big apple this summer, she says she drank at least one Starbucks beverage per day.

Raymond says she is loyal to Starbucks more because the drinks are good than because of the atmosphere.

She says she and two friends drove to Edmond just to get Starbucks.

“Then we turned around and came right back,” she says.