Starbucks opening in Little Village concerns some residents, business owners

CHICAGO (CBS) —  It’s opening day for a new business in Little Village, but not everyone is happy about it, but the “ni una gota” campaign, which means “not one drop,” is encouraging locals not to patronize this new Starbucks opening in Little Village.

Community leaders who have fought hard for little businesses in this area said the presence of this corporate giant does not fit into the culture nor the fabric of the neighborhood.

The new Starbucks location held its grand opening this week in the Discount Mall Shopping Center. The corporate giant stands out in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood where businesses are mostly family-owned and operated.

Some activist groups, like the Little Village Community Council, see Starbucks’ arrival in the shopping district as a threat to other cafés and eateries with deep ties to the community’s culture and economy.

They are calling for Starbucks to hire only staff from the community at a livable wage of $20-$25 an hour. They also want the Little Village location to be a nonprofit restaurant, where those profits go back into the community.

Victor Garcia, who owns the nearby café Azucar- said Starbucks would do more damage than good to the neighborhood.

“We are very simple people. We like our coffee. We like our elotes. We like our tamales. And now we have a huge coffee brand coming that doesn’t understand us or our traditions of the area,” Garcia said.

“We are afraid that this sends out a message of gentrification. Where a real estate agent is going to say, ‘Hey, buy this house, and a block away, you can go to this Starbucks. So that’s really our worry here that it might gentrify the area,” said resident Balthazar Enriques. 

A spokesperson for Starbucks said it’s doing outreach work for Little Village Starbucks, saying nine of the 15 workers at the Little Village location are from the neighborhood, and inside, there is space dedicated to community gatherings.