Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Tag: capitol coffee shop

Starbucks drinks now served at Capitol coffee shop

The Capitol coffee shop is now serving Starbucks drinks and may soon have televisions showing legislative hearings. (Photo by Rachel Leingang/Arizona Capitol Times)
The Capitol coffee shop is now serving Starbucks drinks and may soon have televisions showing legislative hearings. (Photo by Rachel Leingang/Arizona Capitol Times)

Starbucks lovers, rejoice!

The coffee shop in Arizona’s Old Capitol is now serving Starbucks drinks and may soon have televisions showing legislative hearings.

The shop, located across from the Capitol Museum on the first floor of the Old Capitol building, is operated by Darrin Warrilow through the state’s Business Enterprise Program, which gives people who are legally blind contracts to run food service and concessions for the state.

The coffee shop opened its door – it literally has just one door – in early 2017. It was previously serving drinks from Kahala Coffee Traders.

Secretary of State Michele Reagan, whose office oversees the Old Capitol, said she wants to add two TVs to allow people visiting or working at the Capitol to watch House and Senate hearings.

She said she’s not sure when the TVs will be up and running.

“I want to get them up on the wall before anybody has an opinion on what I can or can’t do,” Reagan said. The process of opening the cafe took more time than expected and involved four different government agencies.

While the cafe now offers Starbucks drinks, Reagan said it’s not an official Starbucks corporate location. People can’t use Starbucks gift cards there, the Arizona Capitol Times confirmed this morning.

Since the shop opened last year, Reagan said it has helped increase traffic at the museum and the museum’s store, which recently turned a profit for the first time.

Lawmakers give OK to new Capitol coffee shop

coffee-620

A panel of Arizona lawmakers gave the go-ahead today to open a coffee shop in the Capitol, ending six months of negotiations involving four government agencies.

Several lawmakers on the Legislative Council, which provides administrative services to both chambers of the Legislature, were uneasy with the process for choosing a vendor because it operates under different rules than the typical government bidding system.

Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, was troubled that the state won’t directly benefit from providing the vendor free rent, a sentiment shared by others on the council.

“I think something is a little bit off,” said Smith, who voted against the contract.

Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, was in favor of the shop, but he would prefer a procurement process of some sort instead of the vendor being chosen before contracts are completed, as was the case here.

The shop will be located in the Old Capitol in a room known as the ice cream parlor. The room, roughly the size of traditional Starbucks, is under the control of the Legislative Council, which rents it to the Secretary of State, who uses it mostly for storage.

The difference in the rules for opening the coffee shop stem from the Business Enterprise Program, which offers opportunities for legally blind people to open businesses.

Food vending programs in government buildings are allocated through the Department of Economic Services, which runs the Business Enterprise Program.

Mike Braun, executive director of the Legislative Council, said statute requires vending opportunities through the program to be rent free.

DES granted the concession to Darrin Warrilow, the same vendor who has the concession for the cafeteria in the basement of the Executive Tower.

Warrilow subcontracts with Kahala Brands, which operates a Samurai Sam’s, a Blimpie’s sandwich shop, a Surf City Squeeze and a Cold Stone Creamery, the ice cream chain that Gov. Doug Ducey sold to the company in 2007.

Warrilow will again subcontract to Kahala for the coffee shop.

Secretary of State Michele Reagan, who initiated the idea of a coffee shop in the Old Capitol, said she would have preferred a Starbucks, but the coffee chain wasn’t interested and neither was the vendor.

Reagan said she sees the shop generating traffic for the Capitol Museum and gift shop.

Reagan wants coffee shop in Old Capitol

coffee-620

Lawmakers, lobbyists and other Capitol denizens may soon be able to grab a cup of joe without leaving 1700 W. Washington, at least if Secretary of State Michele Reagan gets her wish.

However, politicos will still need to go elsewhere for the caffeine fix during the 2016 legislative session. The chosen vendor still needs approval from Legislative Council, which oversees the Old Capitol, where the proposed coffee shop is to be located.

The coffee shop would go into a largely unused room on the first floor of the Old Capitol known as the ice cream parlor. The Secretary of State’s Office pays rent on the room, which Reagan said is mostly used only for school kids on field trips to leave their backpacks and jackets. So she looked into the possibility of bringing a coffee shop to the Capitol.

Assistant Secretary of State Lee Miller said his office believes there’s a need for a coffee shop at the Capitol. Furthermore, the traffic it brings in would help increase the visibility of the Arizona Capitol Museum and its store, also located on the first floor of the building, which the Secretary of State’s Office operates.

Reagan emphasized that the Secretary of State’s Office wouldn’t make any money from the concession.

“It drives me nuts that we’re paying rent on an empty space that is just being used for … lunchboxes and coats,” Reagan said. “I figured if we’re going to pay rent on something … the capitalist in me, I want it to be a place where people come and then they see the museum.”

In accordance with a federal program established in 1936, state law reserves food service and other merchandising concessions for visually impaired vendors. Those vendors can either run the concession themselves or subcontract with someone else.

Miller said the Secretary of State’s Office’s involvement in the coffee shop ended after it reached out to the Department of Economic Security, which runs the food service program. The office’s only role in the plan is in providing the space for the coffee shop.

DES granted the concession to Darrin Warrilow, the same vendor who has the concession for the cafeteria in the basement of the Executive Tower. Warrilow subcontracts with Kahala Brands, which operates a Samurai Sam’s, a Blimpie sub sandwich shop, a Surf City Squeeze and a Cold Stone Creamery, the ice cream chain that Gov. Doug Ducey sold to the company in 2007.

Warrilow has elected to subcontract again with Kahala for the coffee shop, and plans to put a Kahala Coffee Traders franchise in the Old Capitol.

The plan hit a snag at Legislative Council, which, as the landlord for the Old Capitol, must approve the remodeling that’s needed before a coffee shop can set up in the old ice cream parlor. And so far, no meetings appear to be on the horizon.

Executive Director Michael Braun said Legislative Council will definitely meet by summer to determine the language for the propositions that will appear on the 2016 ballot. The Legislative Council chairman – the position passes from Senate President Andy Biggs to House Speaker David Gowan on Jan. 11 – could also call a meeting earlier to hash out the issue.

Miller said the Secretary of State’s Office has met with most Legislative Council members and none voiced objections to the proposal, though a number have raised questions about the program under which the coffee shop would operate. Reagan said one member also questioned whether her office has a conflict of interest because her brother works for Kahala. She reiterated that her office would not see any benefit from the coffee shop.

You don't have credit card details available. You will be redirected to update payment method page. Click OK to continue.