Starbucks Slated to Open New State College Location, Close Another

One of the nation’s most popular coffee chains is expected to shake up its State College locations.

The Starbucks at 141 S. Garner St. is expected to close by the end of January, an employee confirmed on Thursday. The Centre Court shop’s closure is expected to make way for a new Starbucks location in the commercial space on the ground floor of the Pugh Centre apartment complex at 150 E. Beaver Ave.

While an exact timeline for the Pugh Centre shop remains unclear, an employee at the Garner Street location suggested a spring opening could be in play. To date, Starbucks’ media relations has not responded to multiple StateCollege.com requests for comment.

Complete with “coming soon” signs in its windows, the Pugh Centre Starbucks is under construction. Once it opens, it will join several nearby coffee shops such as Webster’s Bookstore Cafe, Dunkin’, W.C. Clarke’s and Elixir Coffee Roasters.

The Pugh Centre’s Starbucks will join a handful of locations throughout the State College area, including two that are owned and operated by Penn State Housing & Food Services. Should the Garner Street shop close, the Pugh Centre franchise will maintain Starbucks’ eight-franchise grasp over the region, including locations at:

• 2030 N. Atherton St.
• 315 Colonnade Blvd. inside Target
• 232 W. College Ave.
• 126 Paterno Library on Penn State’s campus
• 30 HUB-Robeson Center on Penn State’s campus
• 201 W. Beaver Ave. inside the downtown State College Target
• 2121 S. Atherton St. inside the Giant supermarket

The Pugh Centre complex opened in August 2020, replacing the former CVS Pharmacy building. The seven-story building offers 6,000 square feet of vacant commercial space on its bottom two floors and apartments on the five remaining levels. Starbucks will be the first business to open in the building.