Starbucks to open store at Red Line station

It could get a little easier for some CTA riders to get their morning Starbucks fix.

That’s because the first Starbucks on the ‘L’ will open its doors at the North/Clybourn Red Line station later this year, the CTA said Friday.

The 776-square-foot store at 1599 N. Clybourn won’t be a kiosk. It will be an actual walk-in store and won’t block passengers rushing to get to their trains, the CTA said.

“The space and the design should be adequate to handle the expected volume of customers,” CTA spokesman Brian Steele said.

Starbucks becomes the largest national retailer to lease a CTA-owned space. The company – hoping to target foot traffic from the adjacent Apple store – submitted the highest bid per square foot for a 10-year lease.

And for those hoping the coffee retailer might take up space at their stations, it’s still possible, although there aren’t any immediate plans, the agency said.

“We continue to work toward leasing additional spaces to add even more customer amenities across the system,” CTA President Forrest Claypool said.

Starbucks has invested $300,000 into adapting the store’s design to the space, but it’s unclear when the Seattle-based company will open its doors.