photo credit: Glen W. – yelp.com
Starbucks, located at 4290 Clayton Rd. (Clayton & Treat) in Concord, has closed their dining room until further notice, according to an employee.
The drive-thru remains open.
The employee said they closed the dining room because there is too much traffic in the small parking lot when both the drive-thru and dining room are open.
44 comments
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Good move Starbucks.
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Perhaps your location received a letter expressing “concern” from the City of Concord?
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I remember posting here before it was built that they needed to include access from the Togos parking lot.
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If the properties are under different ownerships, connecting parking areas would require a reciprocal access easement and would need to be recorded.
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Given my experience as a development specialist, that would require one party to pay the other some big dollars and could have hampered project approval.
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My co worker and I drive up Clayton rd in the mornings to work and there is always a huge line of cars down Clayton rd turning onto treat blvd. the amount of honking is ridiculous when people are leaving Starbucks. I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often or earlier. This was an awful location for a Starbucks.
Curious when you leave for work? I drive up Treat at around both 745am and then again at around 10am (depending on my shift that day), in addition to several other times a day, and I never see any backups. This location tends to have this reputation when I speak with people but I live right down the road and have never observed this happening ever at this location.
Again the poor planning that City of Concord does so often. The City needs people who know what they are doing and not lining their pockets with dirty money. I’m sick of seeing empty weed filled lots for years throughout , most of them downtown. Also let’s get businesses in to all the empty buildings from Treat east. Forget building in the CNWS fo now. We’ve wasted too much money and time on that. Do the right thing Concord and get us back on track!!!!
Have not been impressed with the Planning commission after they approved this location and then Dutch Brothers and the daycare. In addition, they just approved a 6 bedroom townhouse complex that will be next door to it on a small lot on Lark Lane. They have people who don’t use their heads and think things through / just rubber stamp projects. Anyone with a brain could figure out that the Starbucks location would be a nightmare.
Yes. The Planning commission is clearly wrong about developing Concord. There is another topic about open space at the Naval Weapons Station being used to build housing. Every major grid and many side streets are already blocked during commute hours.
Tear that damn wall down, unsmart move to whoever approved that blueprint, it’d be a plus for businesses vice versa and parking access
Why did city approve plans in first place ? ? ?
Perhaps sales tax revenue was influential or did they think everyone using drive thru and parking for inside dining would only be driving small vehicles.
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Guessing vehicles parking and pulling out of spots are interfering with drive thru and people complained.
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Driving eastbound on Clayton Rd waiting for light at Treat, watching a full size pickup trying to negotiate that lot is comical. When original plot plan was posted on Claycord there were comments about vehicles negotiating lot and traffic flow.
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Then was the matter of customers exiting lot, flooring it to dash across three lanes of traffic to make left turn lane to make a U-turn and continue west bound commute.
Good. They workers are rude and it’s crowded over there. The lot is small. Customers are rude as well. Just CLOSE IT DOWN
Maybe the rudeness is being reflected back? I’ve not once had a rude encounter at this Starbucks (or any of the area Starbucks for that matter).
Iced Mocha anyone? With some milk, a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast, a teaspoon of instant coffee, some ice, and a straw you can have your very own perfectly satisfying coffee drink to take with you as you leave the house in the morning, avoiding the traffic at Starbuck’s and the outrageous cost. Starbuck’s even makes an excellent instant coffee, if you’ve really gotta have Starbuck’s.
Just make sure the Carnation Instant Breakfast is Chocolate flavor.
And we lost a Java Detour for this? Their coffee was great. The people were awesome. Then everyone got all excited about Sprouts and you rolled them out of the joint. Now this place can’t even operate a dining room.
So now all the caffeine addicts will have to drive through. Considering the rudeness and lack of concern for others I’ve observed by many of the people who drive in and out of this place I’m invisioning the drive through line backing up onto Treat Blvd and/or Clayton Rd. and blocking traffic. Because, you know, their need for caffeine is more important than common courtesy.
Already happening BB
Just a guess- They asked for something from the City. City said no. So they closed the dining room to back traffic up even more to get what they want…
Admittedly, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. What could the City do to help them and clear out the traffic? Force the Togo’s lot to give access…
Everyone knew when they built this place it was a terrible location & the parking lot was too small. Closing the dining room does not help at all with the drive thru traffic back up onto Clayton Rd. Doesn’t matter to me, I stopped going there a while back. The drive thru employees have always been nice but the parking lot is such a pain the drive thru is not worth it. The in-store employees usually ignore you and seem put upon by your presence. I don’t need a red carpet but how about a “hello what can I get you?”
I sometimes visit this location and getting in/out is a chore. I wish this were in a better location. Makes me think Dutch Bros is going to be worse as it seems smaller and is in a high traffic area. They’ve certainly made navigating the Taco Bell a bit tighter.
I always though the parking lot in front of K Mart would have been a better location for a drive thru. And actually anywhere in the center that has Togos or Staples would work. Plenty of room, and unfortunately both are a bit dead.
People are surprised that the city allowed this to be built, remember, these are the same construction genius that “improved” Farm Bureau road, at a great cost, and left the telephone poles in the middle of the sidewalk!
We can have this wonderful decision, but apparently cannot have a chik-fil-a in Concord, which actually plans well for their space and gets folks in and out quickly.
Have you SEEN a CFA drive-thru ever? They have car lines down the street for days, non-stop. What a weird compare/contrast when discussing concerns about congestion! “Yes, this is a problem — why can’t we have something far, far worse instead?!”
Nah, you have it way backward. Starbucks with this awful mess gets greenlighted, but CFA moves their people in and out so quickly. They plan for space to wrap their lines around their own building, for crying out loud. Let me guess, you are one of those folks that hate CFL because you are told to? The far worse if Starbucks for sure.
If you think this is SNAFU, wait until the planning people let the Seeno gang run the development of the Weapons Station!
Dutch Brothers opens soon taking traffic away from Starbucks. That part of Clayton Rd will be the next traffic issue. These businesses wont necessarily create more coffee drinkers it just spreads them to other locations in a zero sum manner. Long time residents will remember 3 Lucky stores within about 1/2 mile of one another. One where Staples is. The other where Food Max ( or other ) in Dianda Plaza. The last one was where the discount retailer, TJ Max ( maybe ) at the corner of Bailey and Clayton Rd. Businesses do crazy things. They all went out of business. Lucky ultimately opened a new store further up Clayton Rd where another grocery store was. That Lucky store is soon to close.
Starbucks is most likely waiting for the 24 hour Dutch Brothers to open on Clayton @ Bailey to relieve there Drive-through traffic. Westbound Clayton road is already a mess from 6-9. Dutch brothers Drive-through approach looks like it’s configured properly to handle the traffic🤞
They should have put Starbucks accross the street with CVS, Staples and the USPS. Plenty of room to wrap cars around.
My understanding of that property is that it’s managed poorly. If I remember correctly, that center is one of the places that In-N-Out considered way back in the early 2000s (before they ended up trying Pleasant Hill instead) but they had difficulty with the property manager and, apparently, residents. Starbucks likely tried and were refused or asked to pay a hefty fee to have their business erected in a dump.
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If the properties are under different ownerships, connecting parking areas would require a reciprocal access easement and would need to be recorded.
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Given my experience as a development specialist, that would require one party to pay the other some big dollars and could have hampered project approval.
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Didn’t just about 99% of the Claycord audience say this was going to be an issue at that location? Just like we said for the In-N-Out location in PH. INO has a temporary solution until another business picks up the old TrUS building.
I continue to be be amazed (disappointed???) by the number of idiots who represent the City. If I didn’t have a real job I would run for one or more of these positions. History has shown you don’t need experience, just logical and common sense – which sadly isn’t so common anymore.
As I (kind of) mentioned above, INO tried to go in a number of larger properties in Concord that could accommodate their business, including the place across the street with the CVS and another near the Solano Drive-In. They were refused by the property owners, and residents apparently spoke up and said they didn’t want an INO near them. So they were forced into the Pleasant Hill location. In-N-Out tried for at least 15 years as far as I know, to get into a place in Concord. Basically, no one wants businesses anywhere near where they live that would accommodate the business needs, and then complain about the businesses being forced into s*it locations. And then blame “thuh guv’mnt”. Smh
When this was before the planning commission, one of the issues brought up was parking. It was basically ignored.
That’s because we have “good ol’ boys”, excepting one woman, who just rubber stamp everything without giving logical thought to how a project will impact its surroundings.
The one saving grace of this place was if the drive thru was a clusterf from traffic in both directions, you could park and go inside.
Starbucks is a disaster these days, the mobile ordering destroyed the flow and ease of grabbing a cup of below average coffee.
I wonder what the real story is for why they are closing the indoor dining?
If you go in and order a “cup of below average coffee” they pour it right away and hand it to you. Tell us you’ve never actually been to a Starbucks without telling us you’ve never actually been to a Starbucks.
is the below average order really a thing?
I do, but seldom go there… I always wondered why they just can’t pour the cup then and give it to me… the waiting for everyone to get their fancy pants coffee is a pain…
PEETS pours it and hands it to you on ordering……
Years ago new young electrician would show up to morning Safety meeting with bought coffee.
Asked him what he paid for it?
How many a week did he buy?
Multiply that number per week by 4
Then multiply by 12.
You could see the color drain from his face as he realized how much he spent a year on coffee.
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Few days before we’d been talking about importance of starting early to save for retirement and the effect of compounding on retirement savings.
I go to Starbucks occasionally for socializing not so much for the coffee. When I do I get a clover which is a reverse press drink and strong. At home I do my own coffee but gave up a while back on consumer espresso machines because they don’t last that long. The Mr. Coffee one I had for the price made an excellent espresso but did finally start leaking after a few years and even picking up another one for parts at a garage sale I could not solve the problem. These days I use an Aero Press.
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I did notice on the local grocery store coffee section that Starbucks has some small tins of espresso grind which are fairly pricey and contain enough to make 40 drinks. Also picked up one of their ground bags of espresso roast the other day and found it between fine grind and regular that it works well with the press. They must be starting to compete with some of the other brands that have espresso grind bags.
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Schultz wanted to copy the European cafe experience but so far has missed the mark a bit having been in Europe myself and also according to friends in Europe. I will credit Starbucks for popularizing coffee again in the 1970s because boomers were finding it buzzed them too much but gourmet grinds lured them in which I viewed living in Seattle at the time.
Should we have ‘affordable’ coffee shops like we keep creating affordable housing?
@Jessica’s comments: 1) This Starbuck’s location was an issue from the very beginning – little parking and traffic backup on two main roads-Clayton and Treat. I am not sure how you have not seen the traffic issues this has caused given that you pass by here multiple times a day. The majority of the people knew this location would be a bad choice during the planning stages. 2) In and Out Burger (for the most part) is only located near a freeway with an easy on/off access (this is part of their business model) 3)Chick -fil-a also needs ample space to accommodate the long line of cars (the WC location is a perfect example of where not to locate one) 4)not everyone cares for Starbucks coffee so I am not sure why you took offense to Mitch’s comment – do you work for Starbucks? If so, you shouldn’t take any of the comments personally. 5)Another bad decision is building Dutch Bros with a child care located on the same property – again an accident waiting to happen.
This parking lot is a mess now. There are dividers, bright green chains, signs, blacked out parking spaces and workers outside. You can’t drive in from Clayton Rd. and Treat Blvd. is enter only on one side and exit on the other. After you get your order you have to go out on Treat. Not sure who figured all this out.
Instead of a cup of coffee I think I need a drink.
Close the freaking drive thru!
And this is a surprise to who? Anyone with half an ounce of common sense knew what would occur when they put a Starbucks in that small lot on a busy intersection. Really city planning department?
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