Starbucks Imperialism

[civconquer3000]

At this point in time Starbucks seems like an empire. At my local mall there was a small privately-owned coffee shop. A nice place, not too busy. And then the cafe went out of business. A few months later it came back as a --
Starbucks.
So many places are now being taken over by Starbucks. Aren't you tired of saying "Grande Decaf Vanilla Mocha Latte with Whipped Cream"? Even though I don't drink coffee because I'm 12, I think the names are pretty long.

 

[Che Guava]

By the time you're old enough to have coffee, I'm sure they'll be another 'big boy' on the caffeine block. All you can really do is vote with your dollar: if you don't like the place, don't go!

 

[Sidhe]

I never understood the trendy need to drink 3 quid coffees that cost a few pence to make, it's frighteningly middle class IMO. And besides I've tasted better coffee out of a percolator or in a bowl for that matter that cost a fraction of Starbucks's overpriced pseudo coffee. Overpriced crap a bit like McDonalds really. It's much akin to neuvelle cuisine were you pay 30 quid for the ambience and a mouthfull. If you want real ambience by a cup of coffee in a bar.

EDIT: oh and if you want real coffee either visit a country that knows how to make it to perfection, or by some beans there and grind your own.

 

[Kozmos]

Crap dont likes nukes, dont like corporations, just move to Colombia then.

 

[C~G]

So many places are now being taken over by Starbucks. Aren't you tired of saying "Grande Decaf Vanilla Mocha Latte with Whipped Cream"? Even though I don't drink coffee because I'm 12, I think the names are pretty long.

And I thought for a moment this is another "those greedy american pigs" bashing thread.
I guess those names are quite long.

 

[The Last Conformist]

While I've never patronized Starbucks (they've got no coffee houses in Sweden, and in Germany they put me off by their ridiculous closing hours), I don't get the hatred they garner from some directions. Unlike your typical Big Evil Corp, they don't undercut local businesses by lower prices - at the prices they charge, they can only compete with quality, and if they're better than traditional places, surely that's a good thing?

 

[GeorgeOP]

I don't consider McD's that expensive.

I've never liked Starbucks. I like easy order coffee, and their coffee tastes bad. I fight this by never buying anything there.

 

[luiz]

The coffee at Starbucks is pretty good IMO, but it is ridiculously expensive.

 

[Paalikles]

Hm. If you guys are more or less rational, then economic theory says that if you purchase coffee from Starbucks, that is voluntary exchange, which means that you implicitly say that you are better off spending your money there than you would have been if you did not.

Because if you you did not feel that you were better off by buying coffee from Starbucks, then you would not have bought coffee there.

Which means that Starbucks coffee price is below your reservation price

(reservation price = the price at which you are indifferent about making a purchase or not. You could also think of it as the boundry for what amount of money you are willing to pay for coffee)

 

[Paalikles]

Sometimes firms expand. Sometimes they contract.

You cannot have infinite expansion, because there is at a given time a finite amount of money in circulation.



Which is my way of telling you that sometimes you get more Starbucks cafes, and sometimes you get less. It is impossible for all firms to do well at the same time.

 

[C~G]

It is impossible for all firms to do well at the same time.

Especially at the same place.
But if you travel it might make you feel that Starbucks is everywhere.

 

[warpus]

But if you travel it might make you feel that Starbucks is everywhere.

Unless you live in Ontario, which is dominated by Timmy's.

There are 18 at the University I work at.

 

[sysyphus]

Unless you live in Ontario, which is dominated by Timmy's.

There are 18 at the University I work at.

Second Cup is also very prominent.

BTW, it took me a second to figure out you meant Tim Horton's, at first I thought you meant Timothy's

So which uni do you work at?

 

[The Last Conformist]

At my campus there are, what, ... six cafés, for ~15k students.

 

[Mise]

Starbucks is a brand rather than a cafe...

 

[amadeus]

You don't drink coffee, so what's the problem?

 

[warpus]

Second Cup is also very prominent.

BTW, it took me a second to figure out you meant Tim Horton's, at first I thought you meant Timothy's

So which uni do you work at?

Western/UWO

On top of the 18 Tim Horton's we've also got at least 1 starbucks and 1 williams.

 

[sysyphus]

Western/UWO

On top of the 18 Tim Horton's we've also got at least 1 starbucks and 1 williams.

Geez, I graduated from Western almost 10 years ago, the corporate invasion had only begun then. I still remember when they closed down the Great Hall so as the corporate sponsors wouldn't have competition from a cafe that served decent food for a good price. Shame.

 

[Alpine Trooper]

Nothing can stop Tim Hortons. Starbucks doesn't hold a candle to it.

What happens when an American company tries to enter the Canadian coffee market?

It fails miserably.

Tim Hortons is moving into the U.S. now, and doing extremely successfully.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Starbucks is pretty ubiquitous in the UK now, and is one of the milder forms of cultural imperialism we've suffered. Truth #1 is that it's raised the standard in most of the country. Truth #2 is that it's consistently poorer than other cappucinos and espressos in London. I use Pret if I'm feeling Fair Tradey, and Carluccio's if I simply want the best coffee within 2 miles of my office.