Top Banana is a staple in the school’s community, with the store and coffee stand located across the street from the school. Many students rely on its convenience and close proximity to the school for lunch and their morning coffee.
“Between the espresso and in [the store] there’s probably one hundred of you,” Jimmy Wild, Top Banana store owner said. “There’s a fair amount that have been in here with their parents since they were born.”
Sophomore Jin En Yu, who frequents the store during lunch, has grown up going to Top Banana with her friends.
“I live close, and I used to take my friends when I was in elementary school,” Yu said. “I would go on my bike ride and I would always buy the honey sticks, and the person there, he’d give us free stuff because he saw us every single day. It’s a pretty nice memory.”
Sophomore Alex Herndon, a player for the school’s varsity volleyball team, has had Jumpin’ Jimmies, the coffee stand next to Top Banana that is also owned by Wild, as a part of her morning ritual throughout the volleyball season, and has enjoyed the convenience of having a breakfast place next to the school.
“I like going there after morning weights and getting a muffin,” Herndon said. “I always see people walking their dogs and getting a morning coffee. Everyone’s very friendly.”
The morning rush caused by students doesn’t go unnoticed by customers, who have learned to avoid the lines.
“My drive through espresso slows down during that point, you know, even though we’re pretty quick and we try to take care of everybody,” Wild said.
Employees work hard to serve everyone efficiently, and the long line outside of the coffee stand moves quickly.
“They are so fast at Jumping Jimmies,” Herndon said. “I get my lemonade within a minute. It’s very impressive how fast the service is.”
Customers tend to avoid the crowds of students during lunch as well, though students have reported efficient customer service and fast-moving lines.
“My customers are kind of trained not to come in here around noon, because high school kids are in here because they’re worried they’re gonna be stuck in a line,” Wild said. “Well, that’s not usually the case because we get the kids out of here pretty early.”
Employees don’t only provide fast service, but friendly service as well.
“I really like how the employees are really nice and they’ll talk to you and ask you about your day,” Yu said.
Rumors of Starbucks taking over Wild’s business have caused concern among students.
“Top Banana has more than Starbucks, and it’s cheaper,” Herndon said. “So, I would rather have Top Banana than Starbucks.”
Though Starbucks has had their eye on Top Banana’s property, students can expect Wild to stay put.
“They’ve wanted it forever,” Wild said. “But they’ve kind of moved on. They’re over that because my landlord doesn’t want to rent to them.”
Though Starbucks isn’t a threat any longer, the new split lunch policy has affected the community of students who look forward to sharing lunch together at the store.
“I usually go there at lunch with all of my friends, but now that split lunches have happened, I can’t,” Herndon said.
Despite the negative side effects that the new policy is bringing, there may be some positive ones too, like increased efficiency and smaller crowds.
“Right now, obviously it’s going to be a shorter line, because it’s a split lunch,” Yu said.
The effects the policy will have on Wild’s business are yet to be determined, as it has only been in effect since Oct. 6.
“We haven’t had enough time with this new schedule to really tell, because all last week, most of you had testing… so last week was not a good week to even tell whether it’s going to affect this one little bit,” Wild said.
Chain stores and major grocers are threatening Top Banana’s business, making it more difficult for the community staple to stay up and running.
“There’s more competition in Ballard,” Wild said. “So, my job has gotten harder. You’ve got Met Market up the road, you’ve got Ballard market, you’ve got two QFCs, two Safeways. It’s getting very hard to stay in business because of all the fees, taxes, competition, price of product.”
Though Wild has some fierce competition, the school’s community of loyal customers has helped to keep his business going.
“The nice part is you’re all over here buying stuff and for the most part you’re all pretty well behaved.”
