A new Woods Coffee
location will open on Dec. 10, the same day that the Barkley Regal Cinema
celebrates its opening with three days of two-dollar films. It’ll be the only
non-Starbucks coffee joint in Barkley Village, not to mention the only one with
a drive-thru.
Wes
Herman, who owns all 12 Woods cafés currently in operation—Barkley to be No. 13--,
said he’d been working closely with the Talbot group for the past five years to
create a version of The Woods that would suit Barkley.
“Every
store is individually designed,” Herman said. “You’ve got to take the local
neighborhood into account, and meet them halfway.”
For
Barkley, Herman explained, that individual design means more group areas
including a separate meeting room, plenty of space and two fireplaces. These
features, he said, are geared towards the business crowd already present in
Barkley and the “nighttime crowd” that he thinks will accompany the movie
theater.
Bill
Hale, who works in Barkley, doubts that the new Woods’ atmosphere will match its
surroundings. “They have a cabin-y theme, and that
doesn’t really go with Barkley,” he said. Hale avoids The Woods in other parts
of town already, because he doesn’t like the names for their drink sizes
(“Spruce for small”) or their “pretty large Christian affiliation.”“Every time I go
there, there’s some kind of Bible study group,” Hale said.
Although he said Starbucks isn’t his
favorite chain, and he likes to support the local economy, he plans to keep
avoiding The Woods.
Dale, a community member who has lived in
the county for five years and would not provide his last name, thought that the
inception of The Woods in Barkley might put a “small dent” in Starbucks’
customer base, but not enough to threaten either of their two locations.
He said he’d continue to buy his coffee
exclusively at Starbucks, since he already comes to Haggen to shop and because
“Woods’ coffee is better, but more expensive.” Dale said he prioritizes cost
and convenience in daily life and that The Woods is “too far out of the way.”
Kalin Brionez, who works at HeathTecna on
Woburn St., anticipates that The Woods’ drive-thru will help her, “especially
on break time to avoid big lines,” she said.
“From
working fairly close, I can say they’re going to get a huge amount of
business,” she added. “I don’t think Starbucks will ever die, though.”
“What’s
Starbucks?” laughed Wes Herman. “There are subtle differences between our
stores. Our sites are family founded, built and designed around the local
community. Our staff is phenomenal and I think they give more personal
attention.”
Herman
also plans to use the Barkley Woods location to pilot a new method for serving
cold drinks: iced coffee, tea and more will flow from a tap, like beer.
Barkley
will be the only location to offer the coffee fountain for now. Herman is
testing the technique there before implementing it at his other cafés.
Regardless
of whether Starbucks or The Woods emerge as Barkley’s favorite coffee shop, all
of the construction and sudden growth in the neighborhood points toward a mood
that Barkley is ripe for chage.
When the Regal Cinema
opens, Herman said, “It will make downtown look like nothing. You put a theater
of that size in our community, and it will change everything.”
Compared to twenty
years ago, he said, “When Barkley was first coming out of the ground, now we’re
seeing a tremendous amount of activity.”
The Woods in Barkley
will be the seventh Woods in Bellingham. The next location to open is in
Lakeway in the old Lychee Buffet building, Herman said.