What's being built next to Arby's in Verona?
VERONA — The fast-food restaurant business is quickly changing along Lodge Lane in Verona. An Arby's opened there at the end of December. Then, less than two weeks later, a Wendy's closed. Now, there's a new chain restaurant coming to the area.
Chad Hodkinson is a superintendent with Alrig USA, a privately held commercial real estate investment and development firm. On Monday morning, Hodkinson was sitting in his truck near a construction site next to Arby's. He confirmed to The News Leader that the site would be a Starbucks.
"Our portion should be done by June 30," he said. "Then (Starbucks) comes in and does their own outfitting of the interior."
Unlike many fast-food chains, Starbucks doesn't franchise its coffee shops. It does occasionally license stores in various locations like grocery stores and hotels, but most are corporate-owned establishments.
The News Leader reached out to Starbucks Monday for confirmation on the new store in Verona. We also reached out in February when there were rumors of a Starbucks opening next to Arby's. At the time, the corporation denied the rumor.
"Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers and we are continually evaluating our store portfolio," a Starbucks spokesperson told The News Leader "At this time, we remain focused on serving customers in Verona, VA at our existing stores and have no store-opening plans to announce."
As of Tuesday morning, Starbucks had not responded to our most recent request.
There are currently two Starbucks in Staunton, one in Stuarts Draft and one in Waynesboro, plus the Starbucks location inside of Waynesboro's Target. A Verona store will give the area six Starbucks within 15 miles of one another.
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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Starbucks being built in Verona next to Arby's on Lodge Lane
