Was a Kansas City independent coffee shop too much competition for Starbucks?

Broadway Cafe has been going head-to-head against next-door neighbor Starbucks in midtown Kansas City for nine years. But not for much longer. Starbucks, which rarely closes a store, is shutting this one down in late winter. "So did the little cafe take down the giant chain store like some small-business David slaying a mighty corporate Goliath?" writes reporter Joyce Smith. "Some might like to think so." (Read the story at KansasCityStar.com)

Comments

[Rebel Prince]

So, to those who say we are "taking over the world"....I say....phooey. Settle down and commerce will sort it all out. Let the people choose. And in this case, they did.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I can only say that the Starbucks was closed because of slow business most likely. That is the usual reason why Starbucks decides to close its locations. There were a few Starbucks closed her in Boston in the last few years and the reason why is because there just weren't enough customers. I'm sure if they really tried to do the whole E=MC2 deal they could've kept it open but most likely not.

[Justin]

I am glad. I mean, I am a barista, and I do want Starbucks to do VERY well, but maybe with this defeat, Starbucks will learn what they need to work on, at least in that district. Or maybe it's just not the place for Starbucks right there! I love Starbucks, and I love independant stores as well.

[OneoftheKCBaristas]

As an "insider" to this case, yeah...Broadway Cafe had NOTHING to do with it. I am sad though, it is a charming store.

[More info....]

If you're an "insider," why not shed more light on this? *Why* was it closed?

[OneoftheKCBaristas]

They simply decided to not renew the lease. It was a very old building and an older store...I think the oldest store in Kansas City, but not sure. Midtown is a rapidly expanding area with three, soon-to-be-four stores in a very close proximity. They aren't really "closing" the store, just adjusting the business a bit. Does that make sense?

[Friend of Romenesko]

Oh, horsehockey. That Bucks was sitting on one of the hottest intersections in all of Kansas City. The one near my house is in an ancient building, but it gets all the traffic it can handle and then some. Corporate was not playing musical chairs. They looked at the three existing stores in Midtown and said, "Which one's the underperformer?" and Westport lost out. Why? Because the hangout next door held onto its clientele.

But give SB credit where due. Within six months of opening next to Broadway Cafe, smoking was finally banned at Broadway (because of their roaster, they said; well, roaster's gone and there's still a smoking ban). I started coming back to Broadway after that and haven't stopped. Their food is a better selection and not shipped in from god knows where, and their baristas are just as fast and just as friendly as all the fine baristas who read this blog. That's why they're closing the Westport Starbucks.

I go there. It seems once they opened up that new drive through Starbucks a couple of blocks away, it was like I was the only customer in there a lot of time. It's sad to see this place go, but I do understand people going to the other one. You can park at the other one. The westport store IS on a high profile corner, but there are maybe seven places to park. I remember many days parking several blocks away and walking in. It's really a shame. The whole time I've been going there, it's NEVER had a bad crew, not even a bad crew member. Everybody at that store made it the most exceptional store in the city. 1

[Twisty]

I loved that store, too. Neat architecture. But I also really love Broadway Cafe. Weird characters, tasty food that's actually fresh most of the time, and, oh yeah, UNIQUE. Bless *$, you just can't be unique when you take over the world. You become another word that begins with U- ubiquitous.

Miss KC so much! TX sucks.

[RainGrlBarista]

What a shame! :( But there are plenty of SBUX stores within close proximity of each other in that particular area of KC. I work @one of the most recently opened stores within the KCMO area. I did not hear about the Westport store closing until I read it in the business section of the KC Star. No postings or company emails was revealed or shared with the partners @my store. Hmmmm...... /:(

[Andrew]

Its all about the comps. I do accounting for retail chains and the best thing to do to increase you average store sales is to close down a store that has tapped out at say at a consistant $750,000. Starbucks' average stores is doing over $1mil so why settle for 750? starbucks dosn't need a store that consistently does 750 they need stores that grow from 500-1million+ that is why the market is hammerig them. Starbucks is closing this store, gets to take it off the books, and gets to open 4 more stores in the area who will increase the comps!

Too bad tho for those starbucks patrons...

[Bob]

Brands are for cattle.

News to you: YOU guys are the commodity, not Starbucks. ;-)

You are right, Bob, our most valuable product is our partners. As Howard Behar has said, we are in the people business, serving coffee. Not the coffee business, serving people.

I feel proud to be an ambassador of the brand. Why would you think this is "news"?

[Kim]

Yay for the little guy! Screw Starbucks, that's what I say!

[john]

I was in KC this summer and ended up at the Starbucks to use the T-Mobile and grab a cup of coffee after driving down from Omaha. Nice store, lots of comfortable seating and local artwork on the walls. But - there weren't many customers in the place; a couple of doors down, Broadway is quite the scene with all the outdoor seats taken and the inside pretty packed too. A couple of days later I stopped in Broadway for a cup of coffee - ok, nothing special. If I lived in KC, I'd still go to Starbucks.