Starbucks Returning to Sharon

Starbucks will reclaim a slice of Sharon's coffee market through a new downtown pizzeria.

Mangia Neapolitan Pizza will carry Starbucks' menu when it opens 25-seat Mangia Neapolitan Pizzeria at 21 South Main St., near the Sharon Post Office on South Main Street shortly, says owner and Sharon resident Steve Fenerjian. The restaurant will be the Mangia Restaurant Group's corporate one.

Starbucks was last in Sharon in 2008, when it closed its Post Office Square location and others it deemed underperforming, Fenerjian says.

"When we decided to go with pastries, we thought it was important to add a different aspect," he says.

"And they were here for so long."

Sharon's coffee options include in Shaw's Plaza and at Cobb's Corner, and in Post Office Square.

"There's no Starbucks brand. It's been missing. So when I contacted them, they were very excited," Fenerjian says.

The nearest Starbucks are in the Village Shoppes in Cobb's Corner in Canton, at the Sharon-Stoughton line, and at Routes 1 and 27 in Walpole. The Barnes & Noble Cafe' at the Walpole Mall also carries Starbucks products.

As a Starbucks vendor, Mangia will be like the Barnes & Noble Cafe': carrying Starbucks products but not accepting Starbucks gift cards.

Starbucks was "very strict about what they wanted, what type of store it was," Fenerjian says.

"That buffet over there is strictly for all their prepared foods," he says.

"This is going to be good."

Fenerjian says Mangia will be a place where customers can pick up a bite on their way to the nearby MBTA commuter rail station, for example.

"People can come in during the day, they can sit down, they can have a sandwich, an espresso, a Frappuccino," he says.