Compton Wakes Up and Smells the Macchiato

A few clues suggested that the coffee shop in Compton was not your typical Starbucks: the phalanx of sheriff’s deputies out front, the bodyguard blocking the door, the mayor clutching a caramel macchiato in one hand and the tall, tall man in a white shirt signing autographs in the corner.

Amid fanfare, even adoration, Earvin “Magic” Johnson came to Compton on Saturday to open the city’s first Starbucks, the latest in a joint venture between the Seattle-based Starbucks and his Johnson Development Corp. that has opened 68 coffee shops in ethnically diverse neighborhoods since 1998.

The opening Saturday, according to many who had crowded into the small store near the corner of Compton Boulevard and Alameda Street, was symbolic. In a city that has faced scandal and bad press, many say this is a sign of a new, more prosperous Compton.

“There’s something good happening in the city,” Johnson said.

Officials hovering nearby echoed his pronouncement. The Starbucks, said Compton Mayor Eric Perrodin, is “like the stamp of approval for the city of Compton.” It is proof, he said, that the city has finally put its house in order.

Perrodin admitted that he was “not a big coffee drinker.” Still, he said, he was one of the first customers at the store, just around the corner from City Hall, when it opened unofficially a week ago.

So far, said Kim Wetzel, a Starbucks manager, the Compton outlet has been doing brisk business. Inside the store, Johnson sat for a slate of interviews, posed for pictures with VIPs and patiently signed coffee cups for the green-aproned Starbucks employees.

Outside, regular folk waited patiently, some hoping to catch a glimpse of a hero, others who said they’d just come for the coffee.

Mia Brooks of Hawthorne had seen the crowd in front of the store as she drove by and said she had come to get a mocha Frappuccino -- “my favorite.”

Eleanor Stewart, a lifelong Compton resident, said the city needed something like Johnson’s business prowess.

“I was even bragging about this to my relatives back East,” she said. “I’m just here to see everyone, to be a part of this. It’s something historic.”

As Johnson walked out into the sunlight -- to say a few words, pose for more pictures and take oversize scissors in hand to cut a green ribbon to officially open the store -- the crowd cheered. “We love you, Magic,” one man shouted. The rest of the crowd laughed and joined in.

A few minutes later, they lined up for coffee.