Local GR Coffee Shops Prospering

[GRDadof3]

Here's an interesting read. With the growth of many locally-owned coffee shops, you would think that Starbucks would be eating into their business. Au-contraire, mon frair! Some owners are saying it is helping them by having Starbucks introduce customers to premium coffees, and then they switch to locally owned shops for the better quality:

http://www.mlive.com/business/grpress/inde...ll=6&thispage=1

I'm not a fan of Starbucks, I just take my Speedway coffee black, thanks

The article also mentions Cafe' Aromas on Grandville (mentioned here yesterday).

[snoogit]

Here's an interesting read. With the growth of many locally-owned coffee shops, you would think that Starbucks would be eating into their business. Au-contraire, mon frair! Some owners are saying it is helping them by having Starbucks introduce customers to premium coffees, and then they switch to locally owned shops for the better quality:

http://www.mlive.com/business/grpress/inde...ll=6&thispage=1

I'm not a fan of Starbucks, I just take my Speedway coffee black, thanks

The article also mentions Cafe' Aromas on Grandville (mentioned here yesterday).

Heh I started going to an independant because starbucks made me feel sick. Indy coffee shops tend to be nicer to my digestive system

[GR8scott]

maybe there just trying to save a few bucks, haha

[torgo]

Heh I started going to an independant because starbucks made me feel sick. Indy coffee shops tend to be nicer to my digestive system

I don't like starbucks that much because of the ridiculous sizes. Just gimme a small, medium or large, not this grande venti crap. For coffee I just drink the ol' cadillac coffee in the office

[woz]

This isn't really news. This is the effect that Starbucks has in a lot of cities.

Starbucks does the "coffee culture" thing very well (almost too well ... some of those baristas are WAY too into it). They introduce a familiar option to people who have driven by a local coffee shop countless times without even considering it, and they encourage those people to add a luxury coffee beverage to their daily routine. They make you want it.

The problem for Starbucks is that there's no easy way to harness a culture as a brand. Thanks to Starbucks, Americans love vanilla lattes. But once these new latte devotees in Grand Rapids realize that a vanilla latte from Kava House or The Bitter End or Dillenbecks or Common Ground or Urban Mill or (Insert Your Favorite Local Coffee Shop Name Here) is made exactly the same way with more or less the same stuff as that vanilla latte from Starbucks, why not support the local business?

And if anything, the Starbucks brand has a negative cache (globalization isn't winning too many fans lately).