Rendering Courtesy of TCU
By the time students return for the fall semester, a familiar siren will be singing from the heart of the TCU campus.
Union Grounds — the longtime campus coffee shop tucked into the Brown-Lupton University Union, affectionately known as the BLUU — has officially been retired. In its place, construction crews are installing something far more caffeinated: a full-service Starbucks. When doors open in August, Horned Frogs will find the same lineup they’d expect from any corner-store location — iced matchas, Sous Vide Egg Bites, Pink Drinks, merch drops, mobile orders, and the endless pursuit of bonus stars.
“I think it’s a big value-add for the campus,” Miles Oller, director of facilities for Student Affairs, mentioned in a TCU news report. “We’re continuing to grow and push what’s next. Starbucks is a nationally recognized brand, a lot of people buy into their food and their product, and we’ll be able to offer it in a good location in the center of campus.”
TCU’s version won’t be entirely out of the box. The remodel includes subtle nods to campus identity — brick columns, purple-fabric chairs, art peppered with lavender accents, and florals that tip a hat to favorite campus blooms. The reimagined space will seat about forty and offer a mix of booths, tables, and bar tops — room enough for cramming before chem lab or zoning out between classes.
The coffee shop update is just the start. Following December commencement, Market Square — the university’s central dining hub — will begin its own major transformation. The redesigned space will borrow inspiration from the new East End Dining facility at Gutierrez Hall, segmenting the cafeteria into distinct, chef-driven food stations, with menus as varied as the student body. To-go options will also expand, and a year-round covered patio will open up outdoor seating.
Oller described Starbucks, Market Square, Gutierrez Hall, and even the Amazon cashier-less market as interconnected parts of an ongoing reimagining of dining on campus. “We’re trying to bring something new to the campus community every year,” he said.
