Starbucks - West End Shops 8902 W Broad St. Richmond, Virginia

Lets face the facts. There are some stores and restaurants that are good, but the atmosphere is not too inviting and there are other stores and restaurants that are average but have the best atmosphere ever. The Starbucks at the West End Shops falls into the later category.


When you walk into the Starbucks you notice that it is a bit smaller than some of the others in the area, but more importantly you notice that you have just been greeted by at least one of the employees behind the counter. In our day and age where the only time you are greeted by anyone in a store is either by a designated and hired "greeter" or a corporate decision to yell at you as you walk in the door you can understand how pleasant it is for someone to genuinely look up from what they are doing to acknowledge your presence in their store.

Looking around at the store and it simply looks used. It doesn't look spotless and it doesn't look neglected either. It just looks like it is trafficked and well visited. The consumer product area is generally nice and neat, but there are times that I have seen it in disarray. Outdoors area is generally clean, but the big glaring issue is the trashcan out front. It is almost always overflowing, no matter what time of day. I have been there at 6am and it is full and I have been there at 6pm and the same. Now I know that most likely the removal of trash is the responsibility of the strip mall's owner and is contracted out, but Starbucks could easily handle an overflow to improve the overall atmosphere of their store.

The main thing about this store that ultimately makes it one of the best is their employees. All of them are professional, polite, and extremely attentive. It was just a matter of days before they knew my order by heart and knew me by name. Even so, as I walked in the door I could here the person at the register call out my order and I could hear the barista repeat the order, thus eliminating any mistakes. My order was always dead on the money and the quality of the drink was consistent every time.

The days that their store was slow, the employees made small talk but was never pushy about it. We could chat or not. I just feel that anything wrong with the store (as in how clean or straight it was) was canceled out by the sheer professionalism of the staff. It was hard for me to change from this location (which is still my weekend location) to the drive through, which as I stated in a previous post is just as good, but could take a note or two from this location. Simply it just came down to location. So lets review.

The Good. The staff rocks. Its as simple as that. They take customer service to a level that each and every consumer would be happy with. They are very good at their jobs and it shows. On the occasion that there is a new employee, it is only a matter of time until they are up to the same standards as their tutors. The store is neither bad nor extremely good, but rather just as a store that popular should be. They keep it clean, but it definately shows the use it gets on a day to day basis.

The Bad. The store is popular. It is next to two restaurants, a ice cream place, and a movie theater. The get you in and out very fast, but sometimes you will have to wait 5 - 10 minutes depending on the volume of customers. Additionally the outside area could have a little more attention paid to it so you do not have to walk through over flowing trash to get to the front door.

Over all this is an excellent store and worth the trip if it is a little farther than your normal store.