Claim: Starbucks threatens Missoula's indie coffee shops

Rose Habib disagrees with a Missoulian editorial that says Starbucks doesn't threaten independent coffee shops. She writes: "Downtown Missoula greatly relies on the summer tourist dollar. Coffee is of great comfort to the traveler. Before, a downtown tourist would have been obligated to take a chance on a local coffeehouse. Now the siren song of the 'consistent yet mediocre' mermaid will be beckoning on North Higgins." (New West Network)

Comments

[rich]

Eesh. If "taking a chance" on a local coffeehouse is the best proposal they can come up with, is there any wonder they're threatened?

Now the local coffeehouses are obligated to upgrade their service and product to something beyond chancy, the customer benefits twice over.

[Christopher]

Apparently many millions of people don't find Starbucks' coffee to be mediocre.

[kumba12]

Opening 4 stores a day, they're bound to step on some toes. Starbucks offers full benefits for those that work over 20hrs and is a fairly decent employer. It is a typical sign of gentrification and at least a Hooters isn't opening up. Aside from being absorbed by the coffee Borg, there isn't too much of a downside.

[Supposed Eric]

I've taken plenty of risks with plenty of indie coffee places. Be very afraid Missoula, be very afraid.

In exceptional cases, I find indie shops to equal Starbucks. In the ski town I frequent, the Looney Bean (ha ha) is good enough that I choose between them and Starbucks based on convenience. When I saw that they opened a branch in a nearby town, I thought I heard a choir of angels sing, and the sign may have twinkled. But this is the exception.

Most of the time, *especially when I want a chai latte*, the indies suck.

[QC Latte]

"Before, a downtown tourist would have been obligated to take a chance on a local coffeehouse"

They can still choose them. But now they are not forced to. In every market I've been in this seems to happen. Local business interests whine, a few close up that should have done so long ago, more new ones open to replace them, and the overall quality for the customer increases.

As I've mentioned here before, here in the MidWest, when the 'buck stopped here two shops closed (one had already planned on it, he just used this as a catalyst), five opened, and there is room for more.

Anyone who's interested in roasting coffee here in Iowa should move quick. I feel quite sure the first shop to roast its own (good) coffee will make a killing in this town. ;-)

[Amy Alkon]

I disagree. I like Starbucks -- I'm on Wifi in a Santa Monica Starbucks now, and when I go to a new place, and see some little local coffee place, that's where I want to go. This Starbucks has been here on Main Street, Santa Monica, for as long as I've been coming here (since the early 90s). In my own neighborhood, I visit the Hippie Haus Of Coffee (not its real name), where the pastries don't taste like wood, and where the decor is church pews and glass tables and bad art.

[chicky]

i work at starbucks, and i frequently get into conversations with people about indie coffee shops around town, even recommending some to them. sometimes change is a good thing, but sometimes you just want what you're used to.

[lawson]

starbucks does at least pay better wages and often provides healthcare. I don't know about what will happen in Missoula, but in places I have travelled, Starbucks has raised the bar on how employers can treat employees. That is a good thing, even if their coffee isn't. How can so many millions be wrong? Well, look at McDonalds. Just because they have numbers doens't mean it is quality.

[Jose Alcedo]

I opened up an outdoor cafe across the street from Starbucks. Indie Coffee & Tea. We are in the North Hollywood area. We are slowly taking their customers away. I think you just have to have a better product and better customer service. We offer both of these. It's always nice to have an alternative besides Starbucks.

http://www.myspace.com/indiecoffee