Since the opening of Saxby’s Coffee two blocks outside Healy Gates last month, many students have begun using the coffee shop to quench their daily caffeine fix.

“I am a big coffee drinker and I love coffee,” Allie Abbruzzese (NHS ’08) said. “I used to drink the coffee at the Corp but the coffee is simply better at Saxby’s.”

Justin Scott (COL ’10) said that he prefers Saxby’s because it offers a better environment than any of the on-campus coffee shops run by the Corp.

“I preferred Saxby’s because it’s a more streamlined environment and it’s kept up more nicely,” Scott said.

Executives from the Corp, however, say that their campus coffee sales remain strong.

“Corp customers have remained extremely loyal,” Jillian Duran (COL ’07), the Corp’s chief operating officer said. “Looking at our revenue, you wouldn’t be able to notice that there is a coffee shop so close to campus.”

Duran said that the Corp has not experienced a decline in revenue or customers since Saxby’s opened nearly four weeks ago at any of its three on-campus coffee shops – Uncommon Grounds, More Uncommon Grounds and Midnight Mug.

Bryan Carroll (SFS ’07), the Corp’s president and chief executive officer, said that the student-run organization has a leg up on the competition for Georgetown students because it uniquely targets their needs. He added that students are likely to remain loyal to the Corp because of their ambience of its coffee shops and the company’s commitment to the Georgetown community.

“We cater to two different markets,” he said about Saxby’s and the Corp’s three shops.

Pat O’Connor (COL ’10) is one of the students who plans to remain loyal the Corp despite its new competition.

“I’ve never been to Saxby’s,” he said. “I live on campus and I go to the Corp coffee shops . It’s really convenient for me.”

The Corp has no plans to change its business model in response to the new competition, he added.

“The Corp’s policy has always been to upgrade and improve based on what the students want,” Carroll said. “We will uphold our business model and continue to change, but it won’t be because we are driven by Saxby’s competition.”

Saxby’s does not view the Corp as a major competitor, and tailors itself more to the local community than to students’ needs, according to an executive at the local shop.

Ryan Egle, who developed the new Saxby’s with his brother, said that he wasn’t even aware of how many coffee shops are on the Georgetown campus. He said, for example, that while students frequent the Corp’s shops for some late-night caffeine, Saxby’s does most of its business during the day.

“To be honest, I’ve never been to one of the Corp coffee shops let alone visit the campus,” he said.

“We’re here to serve the 30,000 residents of Georgetown,” Egle added. “This is a very vivacious neighborhood.”

Egle said that Saxby’s does not plan to adjust its business model because of the Corp.

“We look at Saxby’s in terms of the bigger picture,” he said.