Starbucks Coffee - My mom has been talking about starting a Starbucks franchise recently. Although there are already several Starbucks coffees in the area in which we live, it seems like there is always room for more. Every day, a new Starbucks coffee shop opens up, and another one begins to be built. Now I am not one of the strongest detractors from Starbucks coffee, but I am not a fan either. There are very few people who I have met who like Starbucks ground coffee. Not only are they not able to make a good cup of joe, but they destroy all of the local coffee shops. Usually, they will open a Starbucks coffee shop on each side of a local business. That way, people coming from either direction will pass a Starbucks coffee before they pass the coffee shop that they usually go into. These predatory business techniques drive a lot of interesting local businesses – businesses that, incidentally, make a better cup of coffee than Starbucks does – out of business.
On the other hand, there are some good things about the Starbucks company. Starbucks fair trade coffee – while not very good – does at least help to guarantee small coffee growers a living wage. And working for Starbucks is supposed to be one of the best coffeeshop jobs that you can get. Starbucks baristas are paid well for service sector employees, and they get benefits – something that is almost unheard of in the coffee shop business. Working for Starbuck coffee can actually be a career – something that you couldn’t say for people working in small, independently owned coffee shops.
Nonetheless, every time I see Starbucks coffee gear, part of me cringes and fumes. What I hate most about Starbucks coffee, you see, is the way that it makes the whole world look the same. Coffee shops have always been an interesting place for local culture to meet. Intellectuals, artists, and musicians have always congregated at coffee shops. Every area has its own unique little coffee shops, and they always express something about the culture of the region. If you go into any Starbucks coffee, however, It will be exactly the same as any other one. They will even have music offerings from the same few national band up by the counter. One of the great meeting places of culture has been completely destroyed because of Starbucks coffee and a few other major players in the industry.
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