Starbucks Loses To Hipster Coffee Shop In Famous NYC Location

How Starbucks Just Lost To A Local Coffee Shop
Starbucks Corp. signage hangs outside of a Starbucks coffee shop in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Starbucks Corp. is scheduled to release quarterly earnings information after the close of U.S. financial markets today. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Starbucks Corp. signage hangs outside of a Starbucks coffee shop in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Starbucks Corp. is scheduled to release quarterly earnings information after the close of U.S. financial markets today. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A popular local coffee shop is set to replace one of the Starbucks in New York's Grand Central Terminal.

Cafe Grumpy -- of "Girls" fame -- will replace the Starbucks on the east side of the terminal this May, CNN reports. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Starbucks' lease was up, and big chain stores are prohibited from applying for a new lease.

"It's part of our effort to keep the space unique," an MTA spokesperson told CNN. Two other independent coffee stop chains, Joe Coffee and Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, are also located in the terminal.

Cafe Grumpy is based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and has locations in Park Slope, Chelsea, the Lower East Side, and the Fashion District. Its Greenpoint location is one of the settings for HBO's hit show "Girls," where the character Hannah, played by Lena Dunham, is a barista.

Starbucks will still have a store in the west side of Grand Central. There are over 280 Starbucks in New York City.

Close

What's Hot