For weeks now, JSOM students have walked past a newly-erected wall where Tradecraft Coffee + Tea Bar once stood. According to JSOM Dean Hasan Pirkul, the closure stems from the upcoming opening of JSOM III, the business school’s third building, which is scheduled to open this summer around July. That building is currently scheduled to house UTD’s second Starbucks, resulting in the Tradecraft café’s retirement.
Pirkul said Tradecraft had been winding down its operations as of late, cutting back on hours and days open, so the closure isn’t a big loss for JSOM. The small space that’s been walled off is still accessible from elsewhere; Pirkul said it is appropriate for use as a storage room.
“One of the conditions [Starbucks] set out was that they didn’t want to have another coffee place competing with them in the same complex, because these buildings are connected to each other,” Pirkul said.
Pirkul said that discussions for what to do with Tradecraft had been ongoing. Using the café-style set up for a new reception or information desk had been the leading option, he said, until that was no longer possible with the new wall.
“One day I came and I saw that wall, just like you, as I was walking by,” Pirkul said. “They thought that they cleared it with me. Technically, the space belongs to the auxiliary operations for the university, not to us.”
Pirkul said that the wall’s erection was a miscommunication and not a conflict.
Pirkul said that the wall’s erection was a miscommunication and not a conflict.
“Frankly, we have been talking for a while, and I thought we did not decide to finalize,” Pirkul said. “They apparently thought we did.”
While a final decision has not been made about the new wall’s use, the dean’s personal preference for it would be an electronic screen.
“We could put a big screen on which we can run notices for our students and news and things that are of value to our students, because that’s primarily where students hang out,” Pirkul said. “If it is up to me, I would rather [display] what’s going on today, notify students of a big event that’s coming up in two or three days. It may be some recruiting event. It may be our alumni day coming up.”
According to the dean, JSOM III will feature an elevated courtyard with a small amphitheater, water fountains and benches for students to study and lounge. It will also serve as the new home for all of the school’s undergraduate programs, including advisers, support staff, programs directors and undergraduate resources.
I’m trying to position the school so that this new building will be the headquarters for undergrads.
— Hasan Pirkul, JSOM dean
“I’m trying to position the school so that this new building will be the headquarters for undergrads,” Pirkul said. “[JSOM I] will become the graduate student space. JSOM II will be the boundary — everybody can hang out there and fight for space. I’m just trying to give some separation between undergrads and grads and make people feel they have a home regardless of what program they are in.”
The Retrograde reached out to UTD Dining and Auxiliary Services, who oversees campus restaurants, for comment and the exact timeline of Tradecraft’s removal. As of publication, they did not respond for comment.
JSOM III has been under construction since Oct. 8, 2024, and Pirkul said he is happy to see construction finally come to a close.
“Believe me, we cannot wait to occupy our new building,” Pirkul said.
