The Central Tampa News & Tribune
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Drive-Through A Has-Bean
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Published: September 24, 2008
SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - The last Indigo Coffee drive-through shop came tumbling down recently at Interstate 275 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. By year's end, an office building will begin rising in its place.
Negotiations are under way, but Indigo co-founder and managing director Jeff Darrey said he can't release the tenant's name. Construction of the 4,700-square-foot building should be completed by mid-2009.
In June, Darrey said he planned to keep the coffee shop open but that proved unrealistic. Morning rush-hour traffic often brought 100 or more cars to the shop's double drive-through windows, but by 10 a.m. business fell dramatically.
"It's always a matter of what is the best and highest value for the location," Darrey said.
Coffee sales at drive-throughs no longer meet expectations. Indigo is focusing on cafe-style java shops with free Internet access for customers who want to linger over their brew.
"That model seems to be the solution," Darrey said.
The company's flagship location at Howard Avenue and I-275 was torn down in June and will be replaced by a three-story brick office building.
The newest shop opened recently downtown at Franklin and Twiggs streets, offering Internet access, a plasma television and music. The company has three other shops in Hyde Park Village, St. Joseph's Medical Arts Building and St. Joseph's Women's Hospital.
Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.
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