Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > July > 03
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Panic at the Starbucks? Maybe not for Atlanta’s other coffee shops.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yes, about 600 Starbucks stores are going to close. No, we don’t know which ones. (You can find a list of the types of stores likely to close, though.)
Call it oversaturation or a sign of Suze Orman’s dominance. Call it an unfortunate possible loss of jobs for lots of employees…er, partners.
Call it annoying to have to travel another two blocks! For coffee! Jeeeez.
But as I interviewed Starbucks regulars yesterday, I wondered if we can call it all that bad?
Maybe, several said, it would give local coffee shops a chance. Even an under-performing Starbucks will get a lot of business, relatively speaking. It becomes a routine, it introduces people to coffee and it has a mighty marketing team.
And when it closes, coffee drinkers will look for a similar product conveniently located on the same path: Doug Bond, the owner of Atlanta-based San Francisco Coffee said when the North Highland Starbucks closed, his stores saw 30-40 more customers per day at his two nearby stores. (SF just opened a third in Candler Park, too.)
For those that call coffee “Starbucks,” the way most of us call any frozen treat on a stick a Popsicle with a capital, trademarked “P,” it could be rough. Of course, chances are high another Starbucks is somewhere very nearby.
But least two coffee drinkers I spoke to yesterday said they like a good local coffee house — they just weren’t as easy to find. One described it as a “shortage” in the city.
I stumble into a Starbucks every so often, but I just happen to live around a lot of local places. (If only they knew how many AJC stories have been produced at their tables.) I had no idea what was coming in the cup on my first visit, but it has all tasted fine so far. (And one serves ice cream. Nevermind the coffee — I’ll have the chilled, creamy scoop of peanut butter cup in a sugar cone, thanks.) And would I have found them if I didn’t live across the street? Hm…maybe not.
I’m writing with four months of coffeehouse experience here. What’s your drink, where does it come from and do you think Atlanta’s coffee house culture is what it should be?
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