A Starbucks closure and the future of Center City | Morning Newsletter

It’s mid-July, so it should come as no surprise that temperatures are expected to creep into the low 90s again today.

First up today, we examine Starbucks’ decision to shut its 10th and Chestnut location, one of 16 stores nationally that the chain decided to close over what it called safety concerns and a need to “modernize.” What does that mean for other Center City businesses moving forward?

Then, we take a look back at Zanzibar Blue, the former Center City jazz club, in the first installment of a project highlighting Philly restaurants that have shut their doors.

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— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Starbucks has decided to close 16 stores across the country, including its 10th and Chestnut location in Center City, over what the company is citing as safety concerns. In a statement, Starbucks said that employees across the country had filed “a lot of” incident reports, adding that the challenges facing their stores were related to social issues such as “racism” and “rising drug use.”

Most of the 13 crimes reported in the vicinity of 10th and Chestnut this year were related to thefts, rather than violent incidents.

But Paul Levy, president and chief of the Center City District, said that Starbucks and others have had persistent problems with drug users in restrooms, which also prompted a related Starbucks policy to be announced on Wednesday. It would allow employees to close their bathrooms to customers, modifying a decision stemming from a 2018 incident in Philly in which two Black men were arrested in a Starbucks.

Read the rest of our story, by Rodrigo Torrejón, Dylan Purcell, Bob Fernandez, and Anthony R. Wood, here.

I’m hardly a man-about-town — and I was only 20 when it closed — but even I remember Zanzibar Blue. In fact, my mom took me there when I was far too young to appreciate it. So it’s a real treat that Michael Klein decided to feature the former jazz club. It’s the first in a series called “The 86′d Project,” a look at local restaurants that are now closed but have left a lasting impact on the city.

Let’s take a look at two quotes from cofounders Robert and Benjamin Bynum Jr. that tell the story of Zanzibar Blue beyond the food and music.

“I think Zanzibar Blue was one of the first places that was really designed for upscale African Americans, where the upscale African American clientele felt comfortable coming. It really made us proud when people would come in and say, ‘I brought my family from out of town.’ And that really made us feel like we were doing more than just presenting food and music.” — Robert Bynum

“A lot of folks were very sad, very disappointed [when Zanzibar Blue closed]. … I often think about prizefighters just hanging up their gloves and stop fighting. I think that we made a good decision to shut things down when we did. We thought about bringing it back over and over again, but I just think of all the memories.” — Ben Bynum

Read more from Michael Klein here. 🔑

Which legendary member of the Eagles is getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month?

a) Mike Quick

b) Jerome Brown

c) Dick Vermeil

d) Donovan McNabb

Find out if you know the answer.

🤔 Wondering: What the heck the Flyers are doing with their free agency moves so far.

🔎 Solving: The mystery of this Philly City Council member’s missing city-owned SUV.

😋 Craving: Something from one of these 26 hot new restaurants in the Philly suburbs.

The famous South Philly cheesesteak joint Tony Luke’s is changing the name at its original location amid a family feud. What will it now be called?

ASK SONNY & TICKET’S

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly.

That’s it for me today. My colleague Evan Weiss will have you covered tomorrow.