Life and Island Times April 1 2016

It is official – a national chain has signed a contract to open operation in the waters off of Marathon Key. The Starbucks Coffee Company has begun rehabilitating Sombrero Lighthouse to accommodate a stand-alone coffee shop next to one of the most popular tourist attractions in Florida. Charter boat captains will be able to order their favorite drinks dockside, gently rocking in the warm sun, as baristas prepare their favorite caffeinated beverages.

“Let me tell you, bubba, I love a good Frappuccino,” said retired commercial fisherman Bennett Orr. “There ain’t nothing better than one of those smoothies.”

According to a Starbucks Coffee Company spokesperson, the lower level of the Sombrero Light House is about 1,000-square-feet — the perfect footprint for a corporate-run coffee shop. Their newest Keys location, however, will be unique. The dockside service is the first of its kind in the continental United States, the spokesperson said.

Starbucks roasts its own coffee beans, and its drink procedures are standardized so that the same drink will be made exactly the same way and taste the same at any Starbucks. It is also one of a few coffee companies that offers its part-time employees benefits such as free haircuts and college tuition at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Marathon Mayor Mark Senmartin and Marathon Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Samess are thrilled to welcome the chain to the Middle Keys. Samess claims the chamber’s “Red Carpet” program (designed to lure new businesses to town) was instrumental in the international company’s decision to open a store offshore.

“We took the Starbucks representatives to the happy hour at Sparky’s Landing and bought them poofy drinks until they couldn’t see straight. Then (Richard) Malafy whipped out the goodwill contract and they signed the papers at the bar,” Samess said. “The contract is not binding, but I have to have something to show the board.”

Senmartin said he will be pushing for affordable housing on the second level of the old lighthouse keeper’s quarters. He estimates 15 to 20 micro-apartments could provide a home for the newly employed Starbucks baristas.

Due to the extensive nature of the renovations, the Starbucks Coffee Shop will not be open until April 1, 2017.

Copyright © 2016 From My Isle Seat & Sara Matthis