On 04/28/2013 03:46 PM, Bhairitu wrote: > On 04/28/2013 03:07 PM, martyboi wrote: >> The main reason Sbucks is in trouble is that young people think it's where >> gramps goes to get a cup o' joe. The current trend is privately-owned, >> coffee shops with free super fast wifi - which is a probably good thing. >> Most don't seem to really care what the coffee tastes like as long as the >> joint is unique and all four genders are equally represented (gay, straight, >> mixed, neutral.) > Independents fail if they don't have a consistently good grind. The > independents here fail on that for the most part. One local shop did > get roasts from company founded by Peet's founder but it closed. The > bagel shop up the hill across from Starbucks just uses a blah restaurant > supplier roast. Only Starbucks really has any decent place for folks to > get together socially. And I wouldn't dare get a cup of coffee at the > competitors and sit in the Starbuck's patio. For those who want to get > drinks elsewhere the city did put in a couple of benches near the > patio. As it is I bring my own eats since Starbuck's raised their > bakery goods prices and made them smaller. As for wifi the downtown has > city sponsored wifi which you can get anywhere downtown. Closer to the > court house is an independent who will make you a press coffee with a > good grind for $2. Except you may have to wait for it as they can only > deal with one person at a time. > > Most of the time I fix my own espressos at home and use a Cuban grind > that come ready for espresso in a 16 oz can for only $5.50. Going to > Starbucks is really for socializing in an area where most people tend to > keep to themselves.
And though it happened some time ago Starbucks has little to fear as a friend reminded me that Starbuck's bought Seattle's Best. That happened about a decade ago and now I do dimly recall hearing about it.