Years after Starbucks closed a coffee shop in Seattle’s Central District, a new coffee shop is taking over the space thanks to a non-profit. Its goal is to bring stability to the block and change the lives of at-risk young people in the process.
Johnathan Tran took KIRO 7 on a tour through the freshly painted coffee shop that features a new roaster, cases for snacks and pastries, a high-end espresso machine, and plenty of tables.
“This is where I think a lot of life and a lot of community is going to happen,” Tran said.
This location at 23rd and Jackson was abandoned by Starbucks in 2022. The company blamed growing crime and safety concerns.
“Crime happens everywhere,” said Tran, insisting that the best way to counter it is to bring out neighbors and bring back a place for them to gather.
“If there’s an opportunity to bring life to a corner of the city that’s been abandoned for a few years, we’re going to do it.”
Tran has seen a corner coffee shop rejuvenate a block before. He says it happened after he opened his other two locations in Belltown in 2023 and in Pioneer Square last year. They’re all run by his non-profit “Coffee TAB.”
“TAB is short for tabernacle. The tabernacle is a place of meeting and dwelling in the Hebrew scriptures.”
Tran’s coffee shops have an additional mission. Coffee TAB offers paid barista apprenticeships for underserved and at-risk young people.
“This is my first job. I literally didn’t know where to start after high school,” said Dulce Gonzalez-Rodriguez. A counselor with a foster family program referred her to the barista program just over a year ago.
“Thankfully, they were like super patient with me. They were very thorough in how they taught me,” she said.
Now, she’s learning job skills and gaining confidence. “I was definitely more nervous. I definitely don’t feel it right now. I feel so much better. I think I feel happier than I’ve ever been,” she said. When asked if it makes her feel empowered, she beamed. “Definitely, oh my, very empowering, oh, my goodness.”
It’s no surprise that Tran - a child of Vietnamese refugees who, himself, spent time in foster care - sees coffee shops as a place for communities to heal, and for young people to grow.
“A lot of my adolescence was really involved with high school guidance counselors, youth leaders and other mentors, and you know, we always met at coffee shops, so that’s kind of what was the catalyst and what made me fall in love with coffee in third spaces.”
It turns out, it wasn’t just a cup of coffee he was drinking back then. “Yeah, it was hope, it was opportunity, it was relationship.” Tran is now paying that forward, one cup at a time.