“Yesterday was amazing,” said Alisha Savage, a barista at Starbucks.
Cortez City Market manager Troy Cordell said the baristas had been training at the Starbucks for two weeks and opened up for business on Sunday.
“People were excited,” Cordell said. “There was a steady flow of customers all day.”
The Starbucks is on the south side of City Market, at 508 E. Main St. The hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
A curtain of plastic sheeting went up toward the south entrance of City Market last month, and many locals were eager for the shop’s arrival.
“Finally,” one woman said as she stood in line for her “skinny tall caramel latte.”
Donna Sanders, of Pagosa Springs, stood in line to get a peppermint mocha on Monday. She happened to be driving through town and didn’t know the Starbucks was open.
“I love Starbucks,” Sanders said. “I am a gold member.”
Sanders said she was excited because her hometown is going to get a Starbucks as well.
“I just love the consistent coffee taste,” she said.
Katie Meyer, of Cortez, had already been to the Starbucks twice since it opened. On Monday, she ordered a pumpkin spice latte, a hot chocolate for her nearly 2-year-old son and drinks for a friend and her husband.
“It’s the only way to go,” she said.
BryAnne Goddard, of Cortez, was also excited to grab a coffee before getting her grocery shopping done.
“It’s pretty awesome,” she said. “It’s nice to have a coffee place that isn’t in the walkway, where you are freezing cold.”
For nearly 20 years, a coffee stand was in the breezeway of the grocery store on the west side of the store. The former inhabitant, San Juan Coffee, is now located at 4 W. Main St. in Cortez.