One of the things that made Il Giornale stores special was the drip coffee delivery system. Hap Hewitt had created a "Tap System". The Tap System delivered drip coffee from the big urns through a tube to a tap set on the counter next to cash. The coffee was poured from taps with handles just like you would see in any good brew pub. The Il GIornale, and later, Starbucks Logo's were the tap handles. This system was installed in all the original "Beverage Stores" that were in urban downtown environments. These were a big feature in our launch into Chicago stores. One thing that we did not think through was insulating the taps. We often opened stores in late summer. The first winter the Jackson Street store opened, the winter was extremely cold. I got a call from Dawn Pinaud, the toilet and the tap system had frozen, and all the baristas were wearing hats and coats just to work in the store. I had to find a contractor to install a revolving door to keep the cold out. Unfortunately, the Tap System was eliminated as the coffee quality for temp could not be maintained and it caused too much waste when the consumer adopted more espresso beverages. But it was great theatre in those early stores and attracted a lot of new customers who loved getting their daily coffee "on tap".
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God, it was cold. And why chicago folk wanted coffee in a bag, it was beyond me... things have changed.