News > Culture > Giving up Starbucks

commentary
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 2007 12:00 PM

How the hell is an independent coffee shop supposed to survive with twelve Starbucks located in the surrounding areas, the closest one only a half mile away?

If you're Rhonda and Jon Mallek, owners of the Fine Grind in Little Falls, NJ you'll put up this billboard.

As reported in the The New York Times, The Fine Grind has the usual coffee shop offerings; Internet access, fancy coffee and seasonal drinks. The Fine Grind had a loyal following as well.

And then Starbucks came to town.

. Mrs. Mallek was a bit taken aback when she saw two of the regulars the regulars! near her shop, Starbucks cups in hand, not long after the new one opened last summer. And so came the idea of the billboard, about a half block from the Starbucks as close as they could get reading: We may not be Big ... but were not Bitter! And We ARE your neighborhood coffee spot!

Now it's totally possible that if the Mallek's customers are anything like me, they'll patronize both Starbucks and (places like) The Fine Grind. So, the Mallek's shouldnt worry, right? Then again it's probably people like me who won't choose a side who are responsible for local businesses closing down.

There are about three local coffee shops in my neighborhood. All three coffee shops are within walking distance from my apartment. I try not to drive unless work related. The problem is that the independently owned coffee shops in my area dont open early enough. Starbucks opens at 6 a.m. Starbucks' more elaborate drinks are pricey but a small coffee is $1.65 compared to the $3 that one independently owned coffee shop charges.

(For the sake of not putting everyone to sleep I'm omitting any details about how I also make coffee at my apartment to save money.)

This NY Times article mentioned websites such as I Hate Starbucks.com and We Hate Starbucks.com. I checked out both sites. I Hate Starbucks.com is in dire need of a web designer. I'm not a fan of white text on a black background. I could only spend ten seconds there.

There are some interesting yet impractical ideas on We Hate Starbucks (the web address is not actually wehatestarbucks.com.)

Have you heard of the game Starbucks Musical Chairs? It seems like a bit of a pain in the ass and I'm not sure how it sticks anything to "the man."

The rules involve buying a coffee at a mom-and-pop shop and disguising your cup with a Starbucks sticker. Players then keep inconspicuously switching seats in order to gain points and the first person to hit 100 points stands up and screams, "Help me! I've been Starbucked!" And then all of the players with their disguised drinks get up and leave.

The only reasonable tactic on We Hate Starbucks is the simple download of a letter titled, "Dear Coffee Drinker." The idea is to deliver it to folks sitting in a Starbucks or slap it up on the window in front of customers.

Here is one example of a few of the anti-Starbucks arguments made in the short letter:

1- Starbucks farming techniques are unsustainable and damaging to the environment, the crops wipe out bio-diversity and the countries that they buy their coffee from (Guatemala, Indonesia etc) don't enforce any strong environmental regulations. So even if Starbucks released statements about their commitment to the ecology and dislike for chemicals, they are not carried out. This is not likely to improve with the WTO in its current state of slashing all hindrance to big business.

(The website does note that in the last two years Starbucks has started to offer some official Fair Trade coffee.)

I'll admit I'm seduced by the sameness of every Starbucks. I know how my drinks will taste. I've grown to like my name on a cup. If I get lost and I see a Starbucks, I immediately feel safe. And for some reason I've bought into the fact that the baristas are happy and protected with their health insurance from working only part-time! But I think it's time for me to make a stand. No more Starbucks. From now on I'll support local business exclusively and write my own damn name on my cup.

PAGE:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

... 15

Comments

FearTheReaper

NEWSWIRE

I'm lost

NOV 25, 2007 01:09 PM

There are two Starbucks in Houston across the street from each other. Fucking amazing.

Tatsu_Shiro

Wichita, KS

October 2007

NOV 25, 2007 01:17 PM

Ok. I guess becase I enjoy a cup full of green tea rather than a cup of coffee, my opinion may not be entirely valid here. But what the hell is up with coffee? how can coffee be so good, and such a neccesity that a company can sell only ground up beans in heated water and become an industrial super power? It seems to me as the closest thing to insanity as you can get. Plus, even if they were using crappy beans from a 2nd world country, can't be any worse than ole Mickey D's.

Mallory

SUICIDEGIRL

Connecticut, USA

NOV 25, 2007 01:19 PM

i don't have a problem with starbucks..
there are plenty of independent coffee shops in philadelphia..
the baristas in said coffee shops tend to be assholes...
i think i'd rather go to starbucks where i know i'm not going
to get attitude for ordering a drink

Ferretbite

Mexico

September 2006

NOV 25, 2007 01:20 PM

Eh, there's only about 4 of them stores in my city and they have one hell of a rough time with the many local coffee houses as well as the local equivalent of their shop which sucks just as bad but costs about half.

Wait, why do I care, I don't drink coffee in the first place!!!

MrStitches

Brooklyn, NY

November 2003

NOV 25, 2007 01:20 PM

If the coffee at Starbucks was good or they had good prices, I would understand their popularity. But their coffee is mediocre at best compared to your average coffee shop, and their prices, around here anyway where prices are mostly pretty high, are slightly higher than average I think at least for regular brewed coffee.

Atomh8

Finland

October 2004

NOV 25, 2007 01:30 PM

I've only been to Starbucks twice in my life. Once to use the bathroom; the other to meet a girl. I think its different for Canadians though. The only place in Canada that Starbucks seems to have successfully dominated is Vancouver. In most Canadian cities I've been to, its either Tim Hortons or a split between several other coffee franchises. Although I don't approve of their business practices, or the decor of their cafes, I mainly avoid them because I think their coffee sucks.