Indianapolis is My Home

21
Jul

Starbucks Closing 12 Indianapolis Area Stores

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Carmel, Coffee Shops, Downtown, Greenwood, Indianapolis Area, Keystone, News, Northwest Side, Real Estate, Speedway, West Side

When I first heard about the news that Starbucks has finally appeared to out-grow their britches, I thought I’d read that there weren’t any Indianapolis stores closing. As the image above humorously depicts skewing the original imagery by M.C. Escher, Starbucks always seemed to be everywhere. Between their actual stores and their little satellite stores located in other stores, they’re everywhere!

At one point in our lives, my brothers and I have all worked at a Starbucks store. My middle brother went the furthest with it as he actually opened a new store, which I think is one of the ones being closed now, which doesn’t make any sense to me.

Here are some of the soon to be closed locations:

• College Avenue & Fall Creek Parkway
• 38th and Meridian St
• 3855 E. 96th Street
• 9642 Allisonville Rd.
• 5060 W. 38th St.
• 5945 Crawfordsville Rd
• 3021 W 16th St
• 3801 S. Keystone Ave
• Merchant Square in Carmel
• US 31 & Fry Road in Greenwood
• Albany & 17th St in Beech Grove
• Metropolis Mall 2499 Futura Parkway in Plainfield

I had a Starbucks coffee for the first time in quite awhile on Thursday night. I’ve been cutting back on my coffee purchases in general, but when I do have a drink it’s been purchased from local coffee shop the vast majority of the time.

All-in-all I think closing a number of stores is a great move for Starbucks. I’m sure it will be a great opportunity for local shops and even Dunkin Donuts to make more of run for market share as well.

From my time working at the SBUX though, I think they’re a great company to work for that seems to care about their employees and work with them to keep balance in their lives.

Story Source: Grinding to a halt: 12 local Starbucks
Image Source: MIT Laboratory for Branding Cultures

28
May

Celebrities at the Indy 500

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Celebrities, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy 500, Speedway

I attended my first Indianapolis 500 this past weekend and had a great time. I have friends that come in from Vegas every year, they usually come for the F1, but since it’s not running they decided to continue the tradition and just switch it to the Indianapolis 500.

We had a blast. Had some good seats and got to see some celebrities. I’ll have to admit though, I didn’t know a lot of them, here are two that we had to ask who they were.

Whitney Thompson - Winner of "America’s Next Top Model"

Drew Lachey - from 98 Degrees and "Dancing with the Stars"

More pictures of other famous people that were at the race to come!

18
May

Get a Golf Deal at Brickyard Crossing

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Golf, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Outdoor Recreation, Speedway, Things To Do in Indy

It’s May and it’s time to be at the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If you didn’t know it though, there’s more to the Speedway than just cars, engines and tires… you can also play some great golf at the Brickyard Crossing golf course.

Now you can take advantage of getting a great rate by playing the course on their Twilight rate special.

For only $55 after 4pm, play one of the most unique golf courses in the world, including four holes inside the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Whether you’re golfing for business or pleasure, you can take advantage of the extended daylight hours and play one of America’s top public golf courses. Tee times up to 30 days in advance at brickyardcrossing.com or call 317-492-6572.

For more details, you can visit or call the Brickyard Golf Course at the following:

Brickyard Crossing Golf Course
4400 West 16th Street
Indianapolis Indiana 46222
317-492-6572
www.brickyardcrossing.com

07
Dec

Indianapolis Gets Another Marathon in May

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Downtown, Indianapolis History, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, News, Outdoor Recreation, Special Events, Speedway, Things To Do in Indy

Indianapolis gets another event that I won’t be participating in anytime soon. An article in the IBJ says that organizers of a new mini-marathon for the city are adding it to the calendar because of the existing mini-marathon already being sold-out at 35,000 spectators.

I’ve got a number of friends that have run in the marathon and are hard-core runners I guess. I’m sure they’ll be extremely happy.

I believe this is a good move for the city. There should be more events that encourage physical exercise. I personally wish there were more cycling events in the city and opportunities to do them.

Of course there’s still the challenge of me getting my butt off the seat and actually going out and doing it. When I was in college and single, I’d bike about 80 miles a week. During my short stint working at Lowe’s on the south side I’d bike the 4 miles to work every day.

Good times. Good times.

Photo Source: The Auto Channel

04
Dec

"Speed Zone" Development Moving Forward

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Brickyard 400, Business, Business Entrepreneurs, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy 500, Indy MotoGP, News, Real Estate, Speedway, Sports, US Grand Prix - F1

An article today in the IBJ confirmed that local real-estate developer Mansur Real Estate Services, Inc. has been chosen to lead the redevelopment of the Speedway area to increase the attraction to businesses to come into the area.

I believe they did a tremendous improvement a few years back with the new lamps, median work and other details leading into the Speedway area from off of I-465 on the west side.

I feel anything they can do to further increase the development and commercial viability of that area is going to be worthwhile. What I’m not sure about though is how the residents of the area feel about the development. I know there are a number of people that live right along the main stretch that make a killing by using their property as parking for the hundreds and thousands of race fans that come into the area each year.

With the MotoGP and talks of Formula 1 coming back to the area, I think further developing the area is a plus. I’m sure it’s quite a disruption to the residents of the area though regardless.

Do you live in the area? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.