This past year Mendham Borough had the pleasure of welcoming a brand new Dunkin. Many people love this inclusion, and many people have their own share of complaints, including that Dunkin causes a traffic jam in the mornings for people commuting to work and it does not match the tone of the town. Despite these complaints, the Dunkin is now up and running and becoming very popular with the locals. Luckily for them, it seems like there is going to be a Starbucks opening in Chester Borough very soon.
While many people are very excited about this new addition there are an equal amount of people who have problems with this decision. One of the main complaints is that they do not want to have a major commercial business with a town built from rich history and with a specific feel to it that Starbucks just will not match. Another major concern is that after Starbucks and Dunkin are both up and running, the floodgates will open up in the future for more and more fast food places and major corporations to be implemented. Many residents of Mendham are also very concerned with doubling the already increased traffic from Dunkin. Between people going to work in the morning from Mendham and Chester and the students who are going to school during the week, there is a concern that the traffic will get out of hand. Soon people will have to leave 30 minutes early to get to work or school on time,and both my family and friends have voiced concerns over this change.
While it is unclear if there is going to be a drive-thru or not for this specific Starbucks, but that small fact will loom large for how busy and hectic the roads will be once it has opened. Businesses such as a Starbucks or a Dunkin cause twice the traffic if they have a drive through than if they don’t. This is often because the convenience of never having to leave your car causes more people to want to stop there. If there is no drive through many people will drive to a different place that does have one. That was the one compromise Dunkin made with all the complaints they were getting but we will soon find out if Starbucks will do the same. This new Starbucks will also for sure bring outside people into the town of Mendham even if they are not going to work or to school. Many areas around here in the Morris County area still do not have a Starbucks, so this inclusion will cause other towns citizens to enjoy the Starbucks. Having both in this town will also be a factor in people visiting. It is a guarantee that these two businesses will have a bit of competition to see who gets more customers. That factor definitely depends on which area gets more foot traffic and more attention from customers
On the other side of things, this Starbucks has the opportunity to make a lot of people happier about the state of Mendham. Starbucks, like Dunkin, can unite a lot of people when it opens. Starbucks also has the opportunity to make things more convenient for people in the early morning. If there are too many early risers at the Dunkin one morning, then people have the opportunity to try out the Starbucks instead, and keep things a bit more spread out. Another positive reason for its inclusion would be that it would modernize the area a little bit which would be a good thing. For many that was a negative but for young people and newcomers of the town a little modernizing would be good for that. So while there are many negatives to it, there are also many things to look forward to as we learn more about it. According to the Mendham-Chester NJ newsfeed there is not yet a set time and date it will open but we will know that and a lot of other information very soon. So it seems that more updates will be coming but until then we will just have to wait and see what kind of impact Starbucks will have on the fabric of Mendham.
