"starbucks chain" news and stories

I know, I know, I know, many of you are going to say in the comments, "when was it ever cool?"

Writer Douglas Brown at The Denver Post has a story about the incredible expansion the coffee shop chain is going through, with a goal of 40,000 stores (they have 20,000 right now). He calls it the "Growth-Into-Plague," the Krispy Kreme model, where they open so many stores that they are everywhere and they are overexposed and become, as Brown says, "uncool" and "repugnant."

I understand what he's saying. Businesses seem to want to push their dominance to the extreme, and I wonder if customers - even if they are diehard fans - will just get sick of it. I'm not a hardcore Starbucks fan. When I lived in the city and I had a Starbucks a two minute walk away, I did go there a lot (I was addicted to the mocha frappuccinos), but now that I have to drive to go to one, I don't seek it out, even if I do drive past one on my way to Borders.

Readers?

[via Starbucks Gossip]