Residents prefer local coffee shops

As popular as large coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are, some still prefer local alternatives.

Just ask Carrie Albright, a manager at coffee shop Soma. She has been a manager for three of the eight years the coffee shop has been in business.

“We’re always getting new and different students coming in,” Albright said. “We pretty regularly have new people coming in. We’re independent and unique, so we are drawing a lot of people in that know we’re not a corporate-style coffee shop.”

She said she wasn’t sure whether people were coming to local shops like hers instead of Starbucks because Soma is greeted with new customers on a regular basis.

Albright also said Soma and many other places in the community have been affected by the economy in recent years.

“I think everyone in Bloomington has been a little bit affected, but I don’t think we’ve been hit too hard,” she said. “We try to buy products from the local places, so a lot of people still feel like it’s a priority to give their money to a place that gives back even when money is tight.”

Some of these local places had to raise their prices to counteract the negative effects of the economy.

“When gas prices increased over the past year or two, many distributors added a gas fee or service fee,” she said. “That trickled down to us and we had to raise our prices a little, but we try to keep them down so everyone can afford them.”

Albright said one of Soma’s drink specials is a happy hour from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday when double lattes, double cappuccinos and double espressos are $1 off.

Greg Danielson, owner of Stone Cutters, which opened its doors for the first time in November, said it’s too early to tell how his business will do in the economy but said he isn’t overly worried about it.

“I’m aware of where the economy is sitting as a whole,” Danielson said. “It’s a location where I grew up as a kid, and since Indiana University is here, we’re kind of a micro economy. When jobs aren’t available, people have to go back to school, so I don’t really worry about the macro scene.”

He also said he’s not worried because he thinks Stone Cutters is proving to be a success so far.

“Just looking at the town itself, I think we’re doing really well,” he said. “It’s not to the point where I would say I’m sweating bullets at night.”

Julie Harris, a freshman at IU, works at the Copper Cup on Third and Jordan, the busiest of the Cup’s three locations. In the two months she’s worked there, she hasn’t noticed a big change in the number of customers.

“We’ve been pretty busy because we’re close to campus,” she said. “So it’s been pretty steady the whole time.”

Harris, like Danielson, doesn’t seem worried about competing with larger companies such as Starbucks.

“They promise their coffee in a matter of seconds,” she said. “Their whole idea is about speed, and we’re more about quality.”

Regardless of the economy, some people prefer a local brew instead of any large corporation.

“We’re an independent company,” Albright said, “and all the money stays in Bloomington.”