Clarkson Alum’s Coffee Takes Over Bookstore

St. Lawrence University recently added a Starbucks café to campus, but is this taking away customers from our Brewer Bookstore café? The Brewer Bookstore now offers Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters, a brand locally sourced in New York and owned by rival Clarkson alum Bob Cowdery. The bookstore used to serve Caribou Coffee, a brand co-founded by SLU alumni Kim Puckett, but staff recently decided to switch distributors due to a cost-cutting initiative.   

Starbucks is on the student meal plan, which allows students to use their dining dollars at the Starbucks café. Maggie McNally ’26 believes the drinks served at Starbucks are inconsistent. “I order coffee daily, and depending on who makes my drink, it affects the coffee-to-creamer ratio,” says McNally. She will continue to drink the coffee because there are few other options on campus.    

Brewer Bookstore barista Aja Samuels 24’ who has been employed for three years, doesn’t believe many people are unaware of the switch from Caribou Coffee to Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters.  

“Since students can’t use dining dollars at our bookstore café, many choose not to come to the bookstore at all, and most of my customers are faculty, staff and community members,” Samuel explains. She believes the flow of customers has stayed the same even with the change in distributors. 

Brewer Bookstore manager Amanda Stopa Goldstein believes the Alums business was not effective for the bookstore business as the company did not incorporate a SLU discount. “There was no advantage to carry Caribou Coffee because the company didn’t do anything special for the bookstore,” says Goldstein. When the bookstore served Caribou Coffee, customers were paying a premium price for a product that was not locally made.    

Senior Associate Director of Campus Activities & Residential Engagement Ashley Downing-Duke gets a 10 percent discount off of the Finger Lakes Coffee Company sold at the Brewer Bookstore. “I understand the appeal of Starbucks, especially in rural Canton, New York. However, I choose to support the locally sourced company,” Downing-Duke says. All faculty and staff get this 10 percent discount on all purchases at the Brewer Bookstore. 

Most SLU students choose to get their specialty drinks from the on-campus Starbucks for convenience and dining plan factors. Most faculty choose to stick to the Brewer Bookstore café, proudly serving Finger Lakes Coffee Company.