This morning, I walked past three Starbucks to get to the ing Direct Cafe in Chicago (which is in an un-street-viewed part of town, inexplicably). Having just moved here from New York, seeing a crapload of Starbuckses is not really anything new; I had to walk by two every day just to get two blocks to the subway. Still, having just been directed by Richard Florida to this piece in the Seattle times, which wonders "if Starbucks is an artifact of an economy that's not coming back?" I found myself hoping these ones would disappear soon.
It's not that I hate Starbucks; well, I think their coffee is scorched crap, but the atmosphere is actually pretty authentic for a coffee shop. The bigger problem, and the one that I hope isn't sustainable, is the attitude of the high-priced coffee drinker. Here I was, walking five blocks to a coffee shop with free wifi and coffee for a buck (plus a refill, and free on fridays!), and I walked by places where the coffee costs more than twice as much and wifi's $7.95 for two hours. And for what, marginally better coffee (i hope not)? Name recognition? I know the crisis has hit Starbucks hard, especially damping its insane growth, but seriously, this company should be dead and buried. At least, I'd like to see the data; at what level of economic distress do people stop caring about adjectives in front of their beverage names and start making modest, sensible choices?
God bless Starbucks for becoming a brand some people can't seem to live without, but if any real, sustainable belt tightening is ever going to take place in this country, undergrads, freelancers, and low-paid elites of all stripes will need to seriously rethink their daily coffee choices. Because the ing Cafe is delicious and pretty empty, now that school's out.
It's not that I hate Starbucks; well, I think their coffee is scorched crap, but the atmosphere is actually pretty authentic for a coffee shop. The bigger problem, and the one that I hope isn't sustainable, is the attitude of the high-priced coffee drinker. Here I was, walking five blocks to a coffee shop with free wifi and coffee for a buck (plus a refill, and free on fridays!), and I walked by places where the coffee costs more than twice as much and wifi's $7.95 for two hours. And for what, marginally better coffee (i hope not)? Name recognition? I know the crisis has hit Starbucks hard, especially damping its insane growth, but seriously, this company should be dead and buried. At least, I'd like to see the data; at what level of economic distress do people stop caring about adjectives in front of their beverage names and start making modest, sensible choices?
God bless Starbucks for becoming a brand some people can't seem to live without, but if any real, sustainable belt tightening is ever going to take place in this country, undergrads, freelancers, and low-paid elites of all stripes will need to seriously rethink their daily coffee choices. Because the ing Cafe is delicious and pretty empty, now that school's out.
1 comments:
Great post! I enjoy your views on the Starbucks phenomenom. I actually like hanging out at Starbucks mainly for the atmosphere, but if I find a coffee place that offers the same cheaper, I'll go for it.
People stick to Starbucks out of habit I guess. It seems change is hard for the modern homo erectus, apart for the (too few) daring ones!
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