We got the tea on the new Port City Java replacing the Chase Hall Starbucks

Port City Java will replace the Starbucks in Chase Hall this fall. 

According to a statement from Scott Myers, the director of Auxiliary Services at UNC, plans to switch to Port City Java were unanimously approved in April by the Student Dining Board. The plans are in final review with State Construction, and the café is scheduled to open early in the school year.

The CEO of Port City Java, Steve Schnitzler, is hoping to start serving by August or early September.

"This will be open for the fall semester,” Schnitzler said. “One thing I have learned in 23 years of business is that construction almost never happens exactly when its supposed to. The exact open date is up in the air."

Port City Java has been expanding outside of Wilmington steadily since 1995. The company has locations all around North Carolina, as well as Washington D.C. and South Carolina. 

“When we started we never thought about working with campuses and looking at that as a business model, but I think university dining has changed so much over that 23-year period of time, and we started to get more and more requests,” Schnitzler said. “We eventually ended up at UNCW as well.”

Schnitzler, the father of a Carolina graduate, is excited to bring more local coffee back to Chapel Hill as the company did at N.C. State.

“It was interesting, because at the time (my daughter) was there, there was more local coffee on campus, and now it’s mostly national brands,” Schnitzler said. “I think it’s a natural thing to want a North Carolina brand on the campus in Carolina. It seems to be the natural fit for us, and we're very happy and proud to finally be on campus and represent North Carolina in North Carolina.”

Both Schnitzler and Myers expressed that all the employees from the current Starbucks will be given the opportunity to work at the new Port City Java.

“They are going to become Port City Java baristas,” Schnitzler said. “I can't speak about every single employee because they are not actually my employees, but I know a lot of folks that were in that café are going to still be employees.”

On the topic of the rival coffee giant, Port City Java’s CEO got a sense of satisfaction from replacing the current Starbucks.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel really good," Schnitzler said, "Starbucks is kind of the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, and they're everywhere. To be able to be a local brand supplanting them is, I'll be honest, it's pretty nice. They come after us pretty hard, and I don’t mind taking a store away from them.”