Drive-Through Starbucks Coming to Chatham Township

Residents will soon be able to get their caffeine fix without leaving the 07928 zip code.

Chatham Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said the Planning Board has officially approved plans for a Starbucks to go into the former Bank of America space in the Chatham Mall.

The Starbucks will include tables and chairs, as well as a drive-through lane for customers who cannot take the time to go inside.

The Planning Board has also approved businesses for other vacant spaces in the Chatham Mall. An Ace Hardware store will go in part of the former Drug Fair space, and the Chatham Wine and Liquor Store, which will relocate from the Hickory Square shopping center across the street, will take another vacant space.

"I think after this it should be all full in there, except for one or two small spaces," Hagner said.

Multiple storefronts in the Chatham Mall have been vacant for years, but recently some of them have been filled, most recently with a Hand & Stone spa and an IYO Frozen Yogurt store.

"The biggest challenge was waiting for the economy to recover," Hagner said.

The recent influx of businesses into the shopping center indicates that it has indeed started to recover--at least, in Chatham Township.