Is Starbucks Good or Bad for Independent Coffee Shops?
Supporters of independent coffee houses love to hate Starbucks — so much that Starbucks is looking into shedding its branding in certain venues to create “local” coffee/wine bars that feel independent rather than corporate.
This is a completely different battle than that between McDonald’s and Starbucks — the indie crowd would never set food in a McCafe, or at least, not publicly admit to it.
But is Starbucks really bad for independent coffee shops? Many who were initially wary of Starbucks later learned that Starbucks and indies can peacefully coexist; a new Starbucks does not have to mean instant doom for its smaller, local competitors.
In fact, some argue that the opposite is true: Starbucks has on the whole made independent coffee shops more profitable.
The company transformed a commodity into a premium product, taught millions of Americans to spend $3 (or more) for lattes and cappuccinos, and thus spurred the growth of the specialty coffee industry.
Of course, there are other perspectives — Michael J. Golde at Seeking Alpha argues that the McCafe-Starbucks rivalry will benefit both companies by putting even more little guys out of business.
Katherine Glover is a Minneapolis-based print, radio and online journalist. She's written for Salon.com, Sierra Magazine and many others, and she does a weekly blog on immigration issues for MinnPost.
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