Team Edwards marks the grand opening of Starbucks on base

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Team Edwards celebrated the Starbucks grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 8.

The new café is located in the parking lot of the Commissary and Base Exchange.

Starbucks is a well-known company, which roasts and makes its own brand of specialty coffees and drinks.

"This is a great step forward for the base," said Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander. "I'm thrilled to have Starbucks opened on base. It's a nice piece of regular life that a lot of base employees will enjoy."


The process of opening a Starbucks on base took a basewide effort that culminated with the grand opening.

"It took more than a year for a project like this to go from conceptualization to the actual opening we had today," said Scott Bonner, Army Air Force Exchange Service general manager. "The hard part of this was the building process and the two-week training required for every crew member."

Prior to its opening, all 17 employees were trained by Starbucks trainers to become official Starbucks "baristas," which means they are certified to make every kind of Starbucks drink.

"All Starbucks crew members must be trained to make each specialized drink," said Josh Faulkner, Starbucks manager. "My crew did well in the training, and I'm blessed to have a crew this good."

Starbucks is the latest AAFES facility to open on the base.

"We get a chance to open another great partnership with AAFES today," said Col. Jerry Gandy, 95th Air Base Wing commander. "I know many of you have been waiting a long time for Starbucks to open, and I look forward to years of great coffee and great service."

Rick Christensen, 95th Civil Engineer and Transportation Directorate engineer bought Starbucks' first cup of coffee after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"This is a convenient location," said Mr. Christensen. "This is not only the closest Starbucks to my workplace, but it's also the closest to my house. I, like many others on this base, have been looking forward to this opening for a long time; and I'm glad this day has finally come."