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  • SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 2007 12:00 PM

Giving up Starbucks

Submitted by SleepyLady

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: Starbucks, Fair Trade, coffee



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 we’re 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 shouldn’t 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 don’t 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.



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Comments
dreamergirl

dreamergirl

Houston, TX
September 2007

NOV 25, 2007 09:47 PM

I love you for this thread. I have lots to say but need sleep. Will share tomorrow. smile

Pyromethious

Pyromethious

Silver Springs, FL
October 2006

NOV 25, 2007 09:55 PM

Starbucks is bad for the kidneys, colon, bladder, blood stream.........*caffeen crash*

Iloveyoumang

Iloveyoumang

Wheaton, IL
September 2003

NOV 25, 2007 10:16 PM

Now I REALLY miss The Nervous Center in Chicago.

Clidna

Clidna

Canada
January 2005

NOV 25, 2007 10:20 PM

Starbucks coffee is nasty. End of story.

We have customer appreciation days at my work once a month, and one month we got Starbucks instead of Tim Hortons (because Starbucks banks with us). I've never had more complaints about free coffee as I did that day. Needless to say, we switched back to Timmy's.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

NOV 25, 2007 10:22 PM

Hating on a Starbucks employee for not being able to make something not on the menu is like hating on a McDonalds' employee for not cooking yr burger medium rare.

Metaverse

Metaverse

USA
March 2005

NOV 25, 2007 11:23 PM

I'm not a coffee drinker. I have also never understood paying $3 or $4 for a cup of something that tastes like someone dipped their balls in it.

Kemper

Kemper

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

NOV 26, 2007 12:09 AM

i dont drink coffee. cant say ive ever bought anything at a starbucks. ... except a donut once but it was a damn good donut!
ANYWAYS
but its cuz they have drive thrus now. were fat & lazy and we dont like to get out of our cars.

mingol

mingol

Singapore
July 2005

NOV 26, 2007 12:11 AM

oyaji said:
There are parts of midtown Manhattan with three Starbuckses within a half block radius. I am not exaggerating.


On my last trip there, the friends I was visiting stopped to point out every spot where three Starbucks were simultaneously within sight. Good times.

Fruitmongerkng

Fruitmongerkng

Irving, TX
June 2006

NOV 26, 2007 12:14 AM

lefthandright said:
star bucks as a entity was originally set by a black cell organisation by the C.I.A to covertly launder money. The plan was establish ONE in every major city in the u.s.a..this way the c.i.a could transfer illegally gained funds easily and quickly throughout the country. The administrators never anticipated that the organisation was going to make money and originally tried to keep it low key by making extremely poor quality coffee that repel a usual customer base. To date operation 'star buck' is now unofficially one of the c.i.a's most profitable branches of revenue. Every you buy a star bucks coffee, you are unwittingly supporting brutal and inhumane para-military tactics, as well as funding political regimes that impinge upon basic human rights. Just thought you should know. This information I have shared could possibly lead to my death, if i should meet an unfortunate demise...please remember...only steam the milk to a temperature of 47 degree celesius, never grind coffee more than 20 minutes before using and always adjust grind according to humidity.



My guess you also believe the FBI and CIA worked together to assassinate JFK, right?

GonzoChaote

GonzoChaote

Vancouver, BC
March 2007

NOV 26, 2007 12:17 AM

Fuck your mom and pop operations, we're here to take over the fucking world. If people didn't want Starbucks, then the mom and pop operations could hold out. Oh snap.

HarryJohnson

HarryJohnson

Calgary, AB
March 2004

NOV 26, 2007 12:21 AM

Looks like starbucks is the latest "must hate" company out there. Don't bother adding me to your current list of Starbucks haters, when i feel the need for a Venti CM, I'll make the trip.

I am moving to a retail position in a large outdoor mall with two, yes two Starbucks in the same mall. One regular sized one is in the local Chapters Book Store, the other smaller one is in the Safeway across the mall. Rumor of a Tim Hortons (Canada's local Coffee Shops) coming to the mall are mentioned...

Starbucks is the American franchise. Tim Hortons, or Timmies as we call it, took over a lot of smaller shops too over the last 10 - 15 years, yet there was no Hating going on during that Canada wide expansion. Is that because Canadians don't hate as much the things around them as Americans? (Just baiting the hook...)

God knows way too many of us work hard enough, live hard enough, and sleep less enough to require the daily grind where ever we can get it. Anyways, drink the coffee you enjoy, where you buy it, for what you think is a fair price. Just leave the hating to a minimum.

If you want to make the effort, ask a Starbucks staffmember where they worked before going coporate. Then ask them if they like working for the one better...

scylis

scylis

USA
November 2004

NOV 26, 2007 01:31 AM

i used to drink Starbucks stuff. then i went to a Cafe Del Mundo up here and learned what good coffee tasted like.

now i don't drink Starbucks. because i'm not paying $6.50 for something that tastes horrid compared to something i can get for half that.

Bicycle_Samurai

Bicycle_Samurai

York, ON
September 2003

NOV 26, 2007 03:20 AM

Boooooo starbucks.

Yaaaaaay cannibalism.

I mean... er... independent.... coffee shops. yes.

Toku666

Toku666

Columbus, OH
May 2004

NOV 26, 2007 05:22 AM

If you're in Columbus, Ohio, go to a Cup O' Joe location instead. They even have the frou-frou over-priced fancy drinks.

Cash

Cash

USA
OLD SKOOL

NOV 26, 2007 06:00 AM

I'm with the rest of the "If there WAS an indie coffee shop near me...I'd frequent it" crowd. There just isn't one. The closest one is 6 miles...and a $1.00 toll bridge away. I primarily grind & brew my own coffee...but from time to time, I get the urge for a cafe mocha and there is a Starbucks less than a mile away.

I think the fact that I ride my bicycle whenever I don't absolutely HAVE to drive my car...purchase as much as I can from thrift stores instead of buying new...buy as much locally grown produce as I can find...and ALWAYS pack out more than I pack in absolves me of the sin of occasionally buying coffee from Starbucks.

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