<p>Eric Cox:<br />This former Long John Silver's restaurant has sat vacant on Lake Street for years now. But soon, it will be torn down and a new Starbucks coffee house will be built in its place. City council members say they hope that this new business will bring more development to the Lake Street area despite what it might do to some of Aurora's local cafes. One year after closing close to 400 stores across the US and Canada, java giant Starbucks is opening its eighth location in Aurora, replacing this long abandoned eyesore along one of the city's busiest streets. But will the move help spur Aurora's economy or suppress the city's growing coffee scene?<br /><br />Chad Dawes:<br />You're in and out, and they focus on the drive-through more than the people on the inside. I'm here to be a part of the community and not just in the community. I want everybody that walk through the door to feel like they're welcome.<br /><br />Eric Cox:<br />Chad Dawes opened Treadwell in 2018, going solo after years of working as a Starbucks store manager.<br /><br />Chad Dawes:<br />Do I want to see the big green come down? Not really. I've worked for them for a long time. At the end of the day, it's not that it's a bad company. It's just that it's a corporate company that has 20,000 US locations. I'd rather stay in business.<br /><br />Scott Hodge:<br />If Starbucks fails, it's not a big deal. If we fail, it's a big deal. We put everything we have into this thing.<br /><br />Eric Cox:<br />Scott Hodge owns Society 57. The downtown cafe opened in November of 2019, just four months before the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, the team behind this coffee shop's focusing on what makes them stand out instead of where Starbucks is popping up.<br /><br />Scott Hodge:<br />You can resist it and fight it, or you can hone in on what makes you unique. Our dream is to not just be a business in Aurora, but we actually want to be a part of what helps make Aurora what it is.<br /><br />Eric Cox:<br />And instead of being steamed about Starbucks, Dawes says he wants what's best for Aurora, even if that means seeing the coffee conglomerate take attention away from his cafe.<br /><br />Chad Dawes:<br />We here in Aurora just want to see our community thrive. We want to see good things happening here. And let's face it, Starbucks brings a crowd. Take those next steps into improving our community. And if that means bring in a Starbucks in to get some traffic and to get some positive attention, some positive feedback, let's do it.<br /><br />Eric Cox:<br />Talking Cities Aurora reached out to Starbucks for a statement about their new location. We're Talking Cities Aurora, I'm Eric Cox.</p>