Starbucks to open in old Tuscany location

If you always considered "frappuccinos" to be a Center City treat, your summer caffeine fix may be closer than you think. According to Senior Manager Peter Mahoney, the former Tuscany Cafe location on 34th street between Walnut and Sansom will be home to a Starbucks "within two weeks." Mahoney said the corporation recently purchased five new sites, but only one is in Pennsylvania. The news of the store's opening comes as a surprise --University sources, when approached, were not aware of the purchase. Starbucks specializes in coffee beverages made with espresso and steamed milk, like cappuccinos and cafe mochas. It also offers pastries, muffins and at the University City location, sandwiches. But the corporation's trademark beverage is the Frappuccino -- an icy blended coffee beverage it started offering when it bought Boston's Coffee Connection in 1993. When the first Starbucks opened in Seattle in 1971, it sold only whole bean coffee, which the corporation purchases from countries in Latin America, Indonesia, and Africa. Starbucks has expanded immensely over the past 25 years, opening close to 1,000 stores -- including locations in Japan and Singapore. But the cities with the most locations remain on the West Coast. Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco each have dozens of stores. Both Washington, D.C. and new York are home to over 20 stores. But the University City store will only be Philadelphia's fourth location, joining the chain's other Philadelphia sites at 16th and Walnut, 12th and Market and 4th and South streets. The new store will open at 6 a.m. and, unlike Tuscany, will not necessarily close promptly at 8 p.m. every night. Mahoney explained that business will dictate when it closes. "We will play it by ear as far as volume of business," he said. "We may stay open late during the school year, especially on weekends and during finals." The site has been vacant since Tuscany Cafe filed for bankrupcy in April and closed its 28 stores across the nation due to market conditions and "other factors out of the management's control," according to a release. Starbucks will move in next door to the former location of the Sam Goody music store, which has been empty since the establishment closed in January.

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