Today (April 17, 2011) I went for a stroll downtown and noticed that the Seattle’s Best Coffee had up their new logo. This was the first time that I had seen the new logo on display on the store’s main exterior signage. It looks great! (For those who do not know, Seattle’s Best is owned by Starbucks).
The last time I wrote about Seattle’s Best Coffee, I was focusing on the new “Levels” of coffee, but you can kind of see the old logo in some of these photos in this blog post here:
I asked the register barista how long the new logo signs had been up at her store, and she replied, “about a week and a half.” Here is the address of the store I visited this morning:
Seattle’s Best Coffee
1100 Fourth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 623 0104
The new logo now hangs in front of the main door at this store, as well as on both main window areas. One set of windows faces 4th Avenue and the other faces Spring Street. The window facing Spring Street looks out at the main branch of the Seattle Public Library which is definitely visually interesting. The 4th and Spring corner is a busy area with a number of hotels in the area, and close to everything. I wrote about the 4th and Seneca Starbucks not too long ago, and that is essentially just a very short distance away, at the other end of that same block, and across the street.
This morning I tried the spinach, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich which was really good! Shhh. Don’t tell anyone I said this but I think SBC has much better breakfast sandwiches than Starbucks! I decided to try the promotional drink which was a cinnamon vanilla latte. I had a funny conversation which went something like this:
Melody “I’d like a tall cinnamon vanilla twist latte.”
Register barista: “So you would like a small cinnamon vanilla latte.”
Melody “Is that 12 ounces?”
Register barista: “Yes it is. A tall is a small here.”
Melody: “Okay great. I’ll have a tall cinnamon vanilla latte – and could you make that with whole milk?”
Register barista: “Whole milk is our default milk.”
The new Seattle’s Best logo, featured at this store on the corner of 4th and Spring, was announced in May of last year, but still is not wide-spread in downtown. I have heard there are a few new-design cafes with the new logo, but this store in this blog article appears to be an older store design with the new logo hanging up.
I thought it would be fun to take a peek into something different than just another Starbucks, and this is a great little neck of downtown at 4th and Spring. I had only my phone with me. My apologies that a few of the photos are grainy. When I left, I ordered a cup of the coffee of the day which was the “Level 3” coffee. It was fine. A little thinner body than what I normally drink, but I would gladly drink it anytime. I think I am more of a Level 4 coffee kind of person myself.
Next time you are in a Seattle’ Best, notice their napkins. On them are the words, “Napkin. aka spontaneous genius sketch paper.” Very cute!
Enjoy the photos. Feel free to comment on anything Seattle’s Best related. What “level” coffee are you?
Last but not least, be sure to follow Seattle’s Best on twitter too!
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Oh I think the pics came out just fine! And I wish they offered a better choice of breakfast sandwich at SB. I like this new logo. We don’t have any SBC cafes around here. I know there are places that just sell SBC, but no cafes.
There is no need to apologize for those pictures 🙂
I enjoy SB coffee. But, like you said, the body is usually a little lighter. But it’s still tasty 🙂
Ha! your conversation about what drink you wanted (Melody) sounds like a tv commercial. I had a similar incident at Intelligentsia last week…only they kept it simple for me…. they knew what I meant so I didn’t have to go thru the repeat.
I don’t think we have any SB cafes around here…..and now, with almost ALL the Borders gone or going…… it’s pretty much a grocery store buy.
more soon….rushing out and need a little time to de-SNOW my car this morning! (about 2″, kind of a surprise)
So it seems that there is an upstairs to this SBC?
I miss having SBC’s around Chicago. I’m looking forward to Michelle Gass making a real run with this brand – it could be really something. I like that they still use whole milk as their standard (thought the Starbucks switch to 2% was based on economics despite what was claimed at the time).
@CD: is 2% (or any % less than whole) generally more inexpensive? I don’t see that as the case when I buy milk. (regularly….and skim;)
As I understand it, there’s no more or less calcium and vitD in any of them, just less fat.
(I’m guessing that when you reach a certain age….altho am thinking I switched to skim in my 30’s, and not for any cholesterol reasons….. anyway, as we age, and cholesterol may rise..the reasons to switch to skim become more …urgent)
As for SB new logo…still doesn’t really wake me up. It’s not so bad on the cans and bags etc but as I’ve said, those billboards on the tollways for the new SBC = waste of $$$. cannot be perceived as SBC, in fact,, I think I was trying to remember on my tollway trip on Friday and never noticed whether the billboards were still there. I think maybe they pulled them, unusually soon….which would’ve been smart.
I like the store pics, but I kind of just see them as baby Sbux. (without the exact same coffee, of course) I’m also #4 or 5. but it wouldn’t be my first choice.
had some dental ‘teeth whitening’ today so am off all colors until tomorrow morning. I can’t tell you how badly that makes me want just a straight cup of the good stuff. 🙂
‘elixir of life’…that’s what we called it at a job I had once…. Thank God I can have it in the MORNING……that would be cruel and unusual pubnishment for me.
sorry, I’m always talking too much….
@BostonStarbucksRebel – This SBC at 4th & Spring has an entrance to it from a hotel in the same building. So the stairs you see head up to a hotel lobby – The SBC ends right at the start of those stairs. @DenseR – Somehow the new SBC logo seems much louder than the old one. It think it’s easy to see at a distance because there’s nothing subdued about a big red and white off center circle. I’m still adapting to it, but it looks like a fun logo in these pictures here. I love the way it looks looking out at the main Seattle Public Library. It’s like as if the library got a new logo. 😉
I have never been to a Seattle’s Best Coffee before so I am really surprised that the interior of the store looks a lot like Starbucks. The chairs, the coffee tower, the promotional posters. It’s all the same concept but much simpler in my opinion.
I really like how they have RECYCLING containers at their condiment stands! Lots of Starbucks customers dont know that we recycle, so they just throw glass bottles etc. into the garbage can… 🙁
@Stsai01 – It is a simplified Starbucks in some ways. But they do some things really right! In the summer, despite that my waistline can’t afford it, I like having an espresso milkshake from SBC! They have ice cream! And every single Starbucks, and every SBC in Seattle has both front end recycling, and back end too, as far as I know. In fact, customers seem to be really good about bringing in their own tumbler here too. I was just looking at the Shared Planet report, and it is still less than 2% of all beverage transactions that have a personal cup discount. Starbucks wants that to be 25%! In Seattle, it wouldn’t surprise me if it is 25% but it amazes me it still averages out so low. Changing customer behavior is so hard. Most customers don’t like bringing in their own cup because it means changing their >own< behavior!
Thank you for dropping by and commenting! 🙂
Oh my. A tall is a small. One cafe I went to called their sizes big, bigger, biggest. Its hilarious.
I used to exclusively eat spinach egg white wraps, but now I tend to live off of vegetable artisan sandwiches… I’ll have to try their food when I’m in town soon.
This really makes me wonder if this is the timeframe Starbucks will use to update corporate signage.
That will be a huge undertaking, and I can’t wait for it to begin.
When I was working at Columbia Tower, I used to walk by this Seattle’s Best every morning! It’s so interesting to read and see pictures of it from someone else’s perspective. I have to admit, I love their pizza bagels (and so does JP!) and once every Christmas season, I have to get a “small” peppermint hot chocolate from this specific Seattle’s Best. It’s just so comforting, on a cold November morning, to be able to walk by an open coffee shop at 5 a.m. and see that there are other baristas working in this city.
Hope things are going well with you!
@Mickey – Just wanted to say a big hello. I need to drop by your new store and visit you there. It’s just a little out of my way. I think Seattle’s Best has a great hot chocolate flavor too – Don’t they use their cocoa trio for their hot chocolate. I will try one there soon!