The departure of Starbucks from the Vandal Store left a gap in where to grab a coffee near the Pittman Center.
However, Thomas Hammer Coffee will be fulfilling that spot inside the store.
“We’ve signed an agreement that will move it into, formerly, the Starbucks location,” John Kosh, director of auxiliary services, said. “We’re looking at 8 to 10 weeks for it to become fully operational and open, supply chain willing.”
Kosh said that the store was reviewed and met the needs of the vendor, allowing them to be able to bring in their own machines to be able to use and little work needing to be done.
“We don’t want to wait any longer than we have to so the priority is to get it up and running,” Kosh said. “Marketing comes along with that, but marketing is not the priority. Getting up and running is.”
Back in 2013, there was a Thomas Hammer on Sixth Street, but it is now closed. Café De Vapor now resides in the space, and the sign of the shop is still visible on the shopping center signage.
The exit of Starbucks was due to the end of a 10-year contract the university had with the vendor.
“They didn’t want to move forward with the relationship, and so we then needed to do something that was going to bring great value to the students and the Vandal community as a whole,” Kosh said.
Kosh said that the contract with Thomas Hammer is a five-year lease with two of two-year extensions, allowing for a total of nine years.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @DVR_Tweets