[Dunerunner]

Only one Starbucks in my town. At the Safeway grocery, the Fred Meyer has a Pete's but I usually stop at one of the five.....YES.....5 kiosk drive throughs.

Oh, I forgot Douche Brothers! They have a new drive through in town.

The local roastery is OK, but they over roast their coffee. I've never aquired a taste for that acrid flavor that develops in over roasted coffees.

[Wade E]

I cant stand that over priced crack house that resides on every corner of the 4 way street. They are just insane with their price gouging. I like my coffee better then most stands anywhere but will admit that I get a Dunkin every day at lunch cause going home just isnt an option and I dont like a thermos sitting around from 5:30 am till 12:00.

[Thataintchicken]

Sad thing is that in my neighborhood, the crappy Starbuck's location IS the only choice.
Every attempt at opening a coffee shop fails miserably.
Why?
Cyclo ( which was a beautiful store with a huge kitchen ) offered a fabulous menu of baked goods and sandwiches. The coffee beans were really good.
The staff? Clueless.
Seriously -- on my first visit, I had to show them how to use stuff. Including a trainee that never pulled anything off the espresso machine before.
Right across the street from Starbucks -- better parking and easier freeway access.

lasted three months with at least 4 staffing changes.

The Peet's across town is a great shop. does great business.
the other Starbuck's in the area do great business. Hell, the craptastic Seattle's Best in Borders does great business.

Is there room for competition in my little neighborhood? Yep.

Chain stores rely on transient business. See the sign, reptile brain signals latte, make purchase. Breaking a population of brainwashing and habitual pilgrimages for a eight syllable coffee drink -- tough as hell.

Building a neighborhood place in a commuter community? Better have a great staff, better coffee and a reason for the locals to keep returning. Don't forget your marketing and advertising plan... you'll need to reprogram the masses. and that will take time and patience... and more money.

[iammatt]

We have 3 Starbucks here within 500'. You can see the other 2 from the front window of the one in our Target. Sadly since Starbucks invaded two of our mom and pop coffee shops have bombed.

[robinpow]

I'm one of those folks who doesn't like Starbucks. They have taken over the world, just like the golden arches. Traveling down the highway in Thailand with a friend, we decided to take a break at the rest stop, talk about making you feel at home... McDonalds and Starbucks.

Their coffee isn't that bad, it just isn't that great, and it's over priced.

Now gone, but we did have a neat little coffee shop here back in the 80's. Located in a nice older part of town, in an older building, decorated with nothing but vintage items. Everything from the chairs, to the lighting, and even your cup was unique. The best part, was if you saw anything you liked, you could buy it and the coffee was great.

The good can't always win out over big company marketing.

[Austin]

McD and SB? What little piece of heaven is this? Kidding they're every where. I rue the day I find a Starbucks in a McDonald's.

[robinpow]

What's bad, "...they're every where" isn't an exaggeration! I ran in to the pair on the highway between Alexandria and Cairo Egypt. Western Europe is littered with them as bad as the states are. Chile, has their fair share too. Poor SE Asia is being taken over.

What really hurts, is that many people overseas, think we really do live off this stuff.

[Austin]

I don't like the idea of SB taking over the world.

[costaricacoffee]

Ok, this is a subject i love. First of all, i have my own version of the Starbucks name: some people call them fourbucks, others call them charbucks, but i call them STARSUCKS.

they are such a powerful force in the US coffee industry that is ridiculous to see the damage they do to coffee. Over-roasted, over priced, their baristas are not baristas; they dont know didley about coffee. i mean, it is too much and i dont understand how they are still in biz.

people who claim they love coffee/like starbucks should look for an independently owned shop and see what they are missing.

SB has closed 1,500 stores in the last 2 years, that should tell people something, including their board of directors. at the same time, this is their most profitable year in a long time, so something is seriously wrong.

[Austin]

Why there in business makes a lot of sense. Consistency, and sugar. They have both in boatloads.

Their market is busted, they will be having to settle soon, unless they put more emphasis in their over seas market, which apparently will be the saving grace of SB. I drink it if there's nothing else around, but some people I know love it. They would rather go there than anywhere, but then they want sugar, not coffee.