By Annisa Longhurst

REXBURG — “America’s Family Community” of Rexburg, known for its religious demographic and college population, is now home to two mainstream coffee shops, with another on the way. 

Coffee shops in Rexburg aren’t unusual—the locally-owned June’s Place, Cup O’ Bliss, and The Grind Coffee House already exist. However, Rexburg began to stir when rumors surfaced about well-known franchises coming to town, and those rumors are becoming reality. Java Espress, the first drive-thru coffee shop in Rexburg, opened its windows last August, and Starbucks opened its long-awaited doors to the public in May. Dutch Bros Coffee is now under construction, although its opening date is currently unknown. 

“It’s nice,” Lonan McCollum, a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, says. “It’s needed. In a college town, students need [caffeine] to survive.” 

However, as another customer points out, it’s not only students who rely on the convenient, caffeinated drinks provided by these coffee houses. According to the National Coffee Association (NCA), the percentage of daily coffee drinkers is 67% nationally, nearly a 20% increase from their last report. But the greatest increase is seen in adults 60 years and over, with adults aged 25-59 closely behind. 

Though Rexburg is largely religious, with a high percentage being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which discourages drinking coffee, not everybody in town holds religious leanings against coffee consumption. Popular coffee houses nearby will be able to serve their needs.

“If people want coffee, then they should be able to get it,” says McCollum. “I don’t think people’s actions should be judged.”

With most of Rexburg’s population working long hours in demanding jobs, these new coffee houses are sure to have no shortage of customers coming their way. However, contrary to popular belief, coffee houses like Starbucks have more to offer than just coffee on the go. 

“It provides variety for people,” says one local customer eagerly. “A variety of tastes.” 

In addition to coffee, these shops provide an assortment of other options on their menu: sodas and energy drinks, breakfast sandwiches and wraps, gourmet lunch sandwiches, lemonades, herbal teas, hot chocolate, pastries, and other small treats. Currently, at Starbucks, they are offering seasonal Refreshers® Beverages, fit for the coming heat of summer. 

Another local points out that new coffee shops bring new opportunities.

“A new store provides jobs,” he says. As Rexburg is currently seeing rapid growth, most notably with the construction of new apartments and work done around the highway, new jobs are vital to support the community and its inevitable changes. 

Starbucks is now open at 1050 Golden Beauty Drive, at the entrance to the US-20/University Boulevard interchange next to Applebee’s (Exit 332). Dutch Bros Coffee is under construction at 855 W Main St., by the US-20/SH-33 interchange and Maverik (Exit 333).