Some Little Village residents say they’re facing yet another blow to their community.

A Starbucks is set to open at the Little Village Plaza — an area once filled with local vendors and businesses before it was sold to developers.

Some residents said this is just the beginning of what will lead to gentrification, while others said the community should embrace the investment.

Baltazar Enriquez, director of the Little Village Community Council, attended a community meeting to address local Starbucks leadership. He opposes the new store, saying it doesn’t benefit the community as there are already many local coffee shops in the neighborhood.

“This type of businesses don’t correlate, do not go with our image of a Mexican neighborhood, a Latino neighborhood,” Enriquez said. “And shame on the (Little Village) Chamber of Commerce for supporting these type of businesses. You know, they say shop small business, support small business, and then they’re going to let a big corporation come in.”

The Little Village Chamber of Commerce provided a statement to WTTW News saying it recognizes the community’s concerns and “advocated for a local business” but played no role in the decision to open a Starbucks in the plaza.

“Our commitment is to ensure that any business, including corporations like Starbucks, understands and respects the unique needs, concerns, and values of the Little Village community,” the statement said. “Moving forward, our focus is on fostering a positive relationship between Starbucks and the neighborhood, encouraging them to engage responsibly, support local initiatives, and contribute to the overall well-being of the area. We remain dedicated to championing and uplifting small businesses in Little Village, ensuring their continued growth and success.”

The new location is the fourth in Chicago that is part of the Community Stores program. The initiative aims to bring economic opportunity and community spaces to rural and urban areas. Examples of this include partnerships with local artists, and community tables or rooms at the stores, according to a Starbucks spokesperson.

The locations are selected through data from the American Human Development Index, to determine where a store can “provide the most value and better serve vulnerable communities across the country.”

Ald. ­Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) has also spoken out against the new store, pointing to the role of the developers, Novak Construction, in making this decision.

“The developer continues to ignore the pleas of the community,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “There are multiple small local (coffee shops) like we have in Pilsen, where we have prevented, you know, big change to come in. … We were committed to bring real investment to the ward that supports small businesses. It is disappointing that they don’t listen.”

Representatives from Novak Construction declined to join “Chicago Tonight” or provide WTTW News a statement.

Sigcho-Lopez has also pointed out calls to boycott Starbucks over claims of union busting and continuing “to fund a genocide in Gaza.”

This stems from an incident involving a lawsuit against Starbucks Workers United, the union representing Starbucks employees, for using their logo in a post supporting Palestine.

Starbucks on its website said, “Our 400,000 partners around the globe have diverse views about a wide range of topics. Regardless of that spectrum of beliefs, Starbucks has been and remains a non-political organization. Neither Starbucks nor the company’s former chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz provide financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army in any way.”

Now Enriquez and other Little Village community members are starting a campaign against the new location called, “Ni Una Gota” or “Not One Drop,” pledging to encourage their neighbors not to drink Starbucks’ coffee.

“The way we’re doing it is by letting the people know that we have good coffees in Little Village,” Enriquez said. “Cafe de olla, cafe, champurrado, and we want to make sure that Starbucks doesn’t steal our image by having a horchata latte, a marzipan flavor frappuccino, because we don’t want them to mimic us. And Starbucks does not align with our values.”