A state-of-the-art Starbucks is under construction at Lowder Hall, set to replace the existing Lowder Lounge in July.
Glenn Loughridge, director of dining services, said dining services used student feedback to give input on the space where the Starbucks will be built.
"We looked at how many dollars are used at the end of the year [by students]," Loughridge said. "Business and engineering students had the greatest percentage of dining dollars left last year than any other students on campus."
Jeff Long, chief operations officer for the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, said he hopes the Starbucks will be a place to go for more than just getting coffee during the day.
"There is going to be a lot of group meeting space," Long said."There is going to be a room for about 80 people to sit in Starbucks, with another 20 seats outside, for about 100 seats. What we think will happen is there will be small group meetings for students to work through projects and it's going to be a good meeting place for people."
Long said having a Starbucks in Lowder allows students from the College of Business, as well as the Samuel J. Ginn College of Engineering and Harrison School of Pharmacy to have a coffee shop closer to them.
Dorothy Dickmann, sophomore in business, said she thinks having a Starbucks for the College of Business and Engineering will be a money maker for dining services.
"It will increase their revenue because not only will students that are up there that wouldn't normally go to Starbucks use it, but also I'm sure people that live directly off campus in the apartments next to Chipotle and other places might come to campus and use it," Dickmann said.
Rumors of the Starbucks in the Student Center being moved to Lowder surfaced, but Loughridge said this will not happen.
"We need to be innovative and forward-thinking," Loughridge said about future dining options. "Sushi is a popular food item on campus and we are in process of talking to folks about a possible Middle Eastern food truck in the future."
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