I can't see Augusta coming away unscathed by the Starbucks* announcement to close stores. The trouble is, we've got the next nine months to wonder about it.

Clothing retailer Goody's was kind enough to let us know which of its three local stores will be closing, but Starbucks is keeping that information close to its vest for the time being.

Their rationale: "Out of respect and dignity for our partners, and our desire to share this information with impacted partners first, we are not publishing a full list of the stores."

About 70 percent of the 600 stores that Starbucks wants to close opened recently, since 2006. That puts the target on most of our local coffee shops.

The company has been the butt of many jokes and cartoons about being everywhere.

They have 11,000 locations in the U.S., and I've seen the street corner where a Starbucks is across the street from another Starbucks.

That makes me wonder about the coffee shops in the Target stores in Mullins Crossing and Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway, because both of those locations have nearby Starbucks coffee shops.

Hey, if I'm wrong, we hold on to some jobs, and that's better than being right.

The stores on the chopping block won't know until 30 days before shutdown.

According to the company, this month-to-month uncertainty will last through March.

Despite the closings, the company plans to open 200 more locations in 2009.

POOR AT POURING: I, too, spilled milk the first time I used the new "square" milk jugs that are being sold at Sam's Club.

The idea behind the new jug is that it is worth a little spilled milk to be able to stack them better in the warehouse and fill them easier at the dairy farm.

The stackable milk jug is a cylinder with a flat top.

Sam's Club officials say that allows them to put 384 more jugs in a delivery truck.

The new jugs also lower the price of a gallon 10 to 20 cents.

It saves me money? OK, I'm not crying now.

Not every milk producer in the country is set up for the new style, so not every Sam's Club has the new jug design, but management has made it clear that it'll be everywhere as soon as possible.

ANOTHER INN: The owners of the Holiday Inn on Gordon Highway have filed plans with Richmond County to put up a Fairfield Inn & Suites, a Marriott brand, in the 2-acre parcel in front of the Holiday Inn.

Pennsylvania-based Shaner Hotel Group has 23 hotels across the country, but only the Holiday Inn in Augusta.

According to the company's plans, the new hotel will have a four-floor tower and 81 rooms.

TALK WITH THE BIG BOSS: By the way, you can go to the Marriott website and blog with Chief Executive Officer Bill Marriott.

SPEAKING OF HOTELS: The Downtown Development Authority of Augusta is preparing paperwork for a bond issue for a parking deck in conjunction with the hotel project on James Brown Boulevard and Reynolds Street.

The DDA has done this before -- bonds financed the parking deck next to the Richmond County Board of Education office downtown.

DDA officials say the hotel developer, who is media-shy at the moment, is courting a few name brands and is designing the hotel.

*Not to be confused with Lt. Starbuck, the Dirk Benedict character on Battlestar Galactica, whom we've seen little of since his A-Team days and cameo appearances on Murder She Wrote and Walker Texas Ranger .

I did see that he starred in a 2007 movie called Recon 7 Down .

Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.