Streetlevel: A Starbucks on Every Corner?
How many Starbucks locations are there in Brooklyn at present? 21. How many will there be in three years? About 100. At yesterday’s quarterly Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable luncheon at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the coffee giant’s real estate broker in Brooklyn noted that the company was planning to open 25 stores a year for…
How many Starbucks locations are there in Brooklyn at present? 21. How many will there be in three years? About 100. At yesterday’s quarterly Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable luncheon at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the coffee giant’s real estate broker in Brooklyn noted that the company was planning to open 25 stores a year for the next three years and that, given the recent transformation of Brooklyn, its expansion was “not precluded from any neighborhood.” (The recently-opened location in Brighton Beach, for example, has been a big success.) Hey, maybe Crown Heights will get its day in the services sun after all? Clinton Hill, Bed Stuy and PLG are also lacking, for that matter.
You know what? I’m FAR from a coffee snob. But anyone with at least 1/2 a tastebud should be able to realize that Starbuck’s coffee tastes like ass, open ass.
Hey PEET’S CORPORATE OFFICES: Why can’t you guys make it down to NYC?? What’s going on? The Starbucks mafia CAN be outwitted. Please give it a shot.
“And Starbucks hardly has a monopoly on servers with cold, dead eyes. Actually their staff seems happier than most (see above).”
We’re comparing them to indie coffee shops, not freaking home depot here. They may smile a tad more than the woman at duane reade but what a low barrier that is.
It is a given that if they standardize their “taste” and appeal across america (and they do) then they do NOT roast their beans optimally. My bet is they ship everything in the store, down to the faux indie CDs they sell, from huge distribution warehouses using trucks and diesel. Their food comes from the same mega-factory-plexes. Their commitment to fair trade / fair prices for pickers is 90% lip-service and PR, and 10% reality. Compare their budget for promoting their “eco friendly” policies to the pay per picker and I guarantee the former outweighs the latter.
They’re disgusting. No more so than every other pustular chain brand that dominates the strip-mall landscape, sure. But NOT having those logos shot at our eyeballs every minute is the POINT of living in brooklyn.
Hey, I don’t love Starbucks, but it isn’t the devil either; and is Ozzy’s coffee really that good? I DON’T THINK SO.
Yes, that is a well-known saturation strategy. Similar to one used by Duane Reade. Ever notice how there are two Duane Reades within 2-3 blocks of each other?
Starbucks serves repulsive, expensive coffee, and shuts everyone else down in the process. I hope the local coffee shops throughout Brooklyn step up to the plate and act to sustain and build their customer base in the face of the Starbucks plague.
Burn every Starbucks down. BURN BABY BURN!
When Starbucks first started spreading, about 5-6 years ago, I welcomed them and patronized their stores. I thought it was great that I could buy a cup of coffee and sit for hours if I wanted to, without anyone rushing me out.
Well, now I avoid them at all costs, unless I have to make a bathroom stop, because their coffee is just so damn gross. Bitter, watered down, nasty. Their pastries are bland and greasy. The quality has deteriorated greatly, not that it was ever that awesome. I wish Peet’s Coffee would spread like wildfire, but they can’t afford to do so. It’s a shame. Peet’s has some really delicious coffee.
Starbucks is now just a McDonald’s and is making everyone even more obese-all those kids drinking 20 oz. Frappuccinos with whipped cream, etc. It’s a fat ass trashy joint, nothing more.
Starbucks has a past pattern of opening MORE coffee shops than a specific area can support to deliberately drive local coffee shops out of business.
Once the area has been cleared of competition they close down some of their locations.
I’m not making this up – this is their business stragegy.
The only time I like Starbucks is when I’m somewhere without other decent coffee, like in the middle of Indiana.
Starbucks pays a decent wage, offers health insurance to its workers, sells the richest, most consistently roasted coffee on the market, and promotes the gospel of shade grown beans and fair trade. They’ve gotten rich teaching people what good coffee is. I still go to Tillie’s and I love the independent vibe, the artwork, the community news on the bulletin board. But for all the idealism about mom-n-pop coffee joints, not many of them have the knowledge or standards to sell coffee as good as the Bux. Hate to say it, but it’s true. I wish more of them would learn something from the big chain so they could compete.
And Starbucks hardly has a monopoly on servers with cold, dead eyes. Actually their staff seems happier than most (see above).
But good point about the design– the signage and logo are great, but the interior design is like 1995 Pottery Barn on steroids, especially those nasty pendant lamps. This joint needs a new look.