"Starbucks is the best thing that ever happened to coffee", according to the owner of one small coffee shop in Seattle.
At first, such a remark seems strange, coming from someone who should be, by most popular accounts, concerned about being driven out of business by the coffee giant. Yet this is not the case, as he goes on to explain that Starbucks "pioneered the idea of paying up to $5 for a cup" of specialty coffee, a concept that would have run most coffee shops out of business years ago, as people were used to paying much less. The chain also raised general coffee awareness, which allowed smaller shops to thrive in even Starbucks-dense areas by promoting artisanal coffees and providing a neighborhood alternative, which many consumers appreciated. Indeed, at some coffee shops, almost all of the customers are "regulars."
Starbucks spokespeople say that they do nothing to discourage competitors, a position which is supported by the fact that many businesses thrive only doors down from the corporate cafes. The loss of some shops would indicate a process or natural selection, with interest in a perhaps low-quality product waning as the standards of the area increase. The shops that succeed make good coffee, often offer it at prices similar to Starbucks, and "a selling point of being small," something that they couldn't do without coffee giant.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-22-2006 @ 5:23PM
Oscar Grimm said...
Fascinating.
I was also just reading that Starbuck's is the world's largest purchaser of fair-trade coffee and purchases over 20% of its energy from clean and renewable sources. This still may not make me a fan, but it does make me appreciate their effort. Many businesses even larger than starbucks are doing far less to promote ethical and clean business practices.
Best,
Oscar
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9-22-2006 @ 6:24PM
Bob S said...
As much as I really dislike Starbucks, I have to agree with the point. Early on I thought they'd overwhelm and destroy all of the smaller people taking coffee seriously. While some have failed, overall, the presence of Starbucks and others have indeed caused many to take their coffee seriously.
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9-22-2006 @ 7:51PM
james b said...
I don't really like the idea of Starbucks, but I do like their coffee and buy it by the pound (not the $5 cup). It is a fresh product, and by the pound I couldn't have a package that size shipped from Africa for what they are charging.
What I don't like is calling a their medium size a vente, or whateverthehell they call it. Their sizes aren't words in the English language, and I generally oppose corporate-speak. Especially before I have had my coffee.
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9-23-2006 @ 2:43AM
Oscar Grimm said...
hah! that's great.
I just order a 'medium'... and am almost always corrected.
I can live with that.
Oscar
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9-24-2006 @ 12:59PM
Alex said...
My wife and I own a coffeehouse and we couldn't agree with this more. First, we don't have to educate the market or set the price point, Starbucks does that for us (sometimes we do have to re-educate the market; Starbucks has very little respect for the language of coffee). They also invest millions of dollars in marketing that benefits us indirectly. Second, if you as an indie coffeehouse cannot make a better product than Starbucks, you really should get out of the business anyway; especially now that they've gone all super automatic. All of our coffee is fair trade, organic, and roasted in the week before we serve it. It's really easy to identify customers who come to us from Starbucks, they ask for 'grande' this or that. Invariably they prefer what we give them, and then they come back and come back. The only real advantage Starbucks has over us is that they're open much earlier in the AM, we're not morning people.
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9-24-2006 @ 5:42PM
Renee said...
I agree with this. Bad coffee shops will always fade out, but good coffee shops will get all of the anti-corporate customers, plus alot of other people. Plus, if Starbucks really does the things it says it does, then it is definitely one of the better large companies. they do claim to do alot of ethical things that alot of other companies avoid discussing.
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