Starbucks Opens on Fairfax Campus

By Connect2Mason Managing Editor Rachael Dickson

24 hour Starbucks on campus.The very words give me a bit of an excited chill. Mason’s coolness factor just shot way up in my opinion.

I walked into the Mason Starbucks on its first day of business, hoping to talk to a Manager for this story. As a sign of how busy they are preparing for the official start of school next week, I was asked if maybe could do Thursday. Hah. I decided to look around on my own for the day.

I was pleased to find out that the store is, indeed, a full service Starbucks, albeit a licensed store rather than a company-owned one. I was able to get my beloved Chai Cream Frappucino with ease, despite the fact that it’s been off-menu for years (It tastes like blended pumpkin pie- I highly recommend it!).

The smiling employees were more than happy to talk to me. A group of mostly Mason students, and for some random reason, mostly Mason sophomores, the employees come from a mix of on and off-campus abodes (in fact, I actually live with one). All I spoke to say they love the convenience of working on campus. I was told there’d been a mix of business on the store’s first day- occasional rushes interspersed with downtime. They expect it to be much busier once school starts. The 24 hour days don’t start until next week, but one girl on schedule for the night shift seemed to look forward to it, joking that she’d be taking her lunch break at 3 a.m.

The atmosphere is pleasant and chill. I sat myself on the plushest couch in the store, right in front of the electric fireplace. I can already guess that this will be one of the most popular seats in the store. The design is typical Starbucks, with pictures from around campus hanging on the end wall. The GMU Starbucks can be found at the front of Northern Neck, by the CUE bus stop.

This week, Starbucks will be open Monday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., and opens Sunday at 7 a.m for the first 24 hour service day. Throughout the rest of semester, Starbucks will open at 10 a.m. on Sunday and run for 24 hours a day from Monday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday the store will be open from 10 a.m. to Midnight.