Views are mixed as to whether a Starbucks outlet would be a good addition to the Village. Saratoga Vice Mayor Norman Kline said there are two competing theories on the economics of the Village: the fixed pie theory and the growing pie theory. Those who believe the economic pie is fixed in size will oppose the new Starbucks, and those who believe in a growing pie will welcome it, Kline said.

"The owner of Corinthian Corners is putting a lot of money into [the renovation] and wants first-rate tenants," Kline said.

Mayor Kathleen King said she hopes a Starbucks would increase foot traffic and attract establishments like PF Chang's China Bistro and Borders Books & Music to the Village.

Viaggio owner Karen Grellas said she thinks in the long run Starbucks will be good for the Village.

"I'm all for progress," she said. "I think, all and all, we have to be open to progress and bigger businesses coming to town."

Leigh Loper, who works at French Roast Coffee, said she does not feel threatened by another Starbucks moving into town.

"My opinion is that our business is based on the regular customers who are our community here," Loper said. She knows most of her customers by name and said her coffee shop is centered around a core of regulars who come for the friendly atmosphere as much as for the coffee.

Would her regulars jump ship for Starbucks? "I don't think so," she said.

"I don't agree that it's going to be a good addition to the Village," said Bill Cooper, owner of Bella Saratoga. "At the head of the Village is a bad location," he said. "People buy their Starbucks and leave."

The chef and owner of Sent Sovi, Josiah Slone, ascribes to the growing pie theory. "I believe competition is good in business for everyone," he said. But Slone said he expects opposition to a corporate chain such as Starbucks opening up shop in the Village.

This is not the first time Starbucks Coffee has tried to open an outlet in the Village. In 1997, the company applied for a conditional-use permit to open an outlet on Big Basin Way but was met by vehement opposition. That unsuccessful attempt led to the chain opening an outlet at the Argonaut Shopping Center on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.

Saratoga resident Jerry Sloan is a regular customer at the Starbucks in the Argonaut Shopping Center. Sloan frequents the shop every day to drink coffee, meet friends and sit in the comfortable chairs. Sloan said there are two kinds of people who come to Starbucks--the people who sit down to drink their coffee and the people who get their coffee to go. He thinks most people, unlike himself, are of the to-go variety.

What of the impact of a Starbucks in the Village? "I think it would probably be good," Sloan said. "But parking would be my concern."

Saratoga resident Bob McDonald comes into the Starbucks at the Argonaut Shopping Center about once a week, mainly to visit Sloan. McDonald echoed Sloan's concerns with parking.

Both Sloan and McDonald said they frequent the other establishments at the Argonaut Shopping Center, but where Sloan says he frequents the neighboring businesses because they are near Starbucks, McDonald says the opposite. It's the other establishments at the Argonaut that bring him to Starbucks--and his good friend Sloan, of course.

"Starbucks generates a lot of traffic," McDonald said. "They must know what they're doing."