Why Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses (2007)

Re:Why Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses (2007) by patio11 on Friday December 04, 2015 @05:07PM (#10679520)

$4 toast isn't nearly as good a business as $4 coffee unless they succeed in making the toast literally, medically habit-forming. That's Starbucks' entire business model: ensure that a caffeinated beverage is part of your morning ritual (afternoon is a nice bonus, but they make a stupendous portion of revenue before 9 AM), get you to do it with the same regularity as brushing your teeth, and ensure that there is a pleasant green priestess very physically convenient when you feel the need to make your obeisance to the caffeine gods.

(Says a habitual coffee drinker who came to the habit late in life, and who is very happy he's moderately dependent on a substance which is highly unlikely to kill him, as opposed to being more-than-moderately dependent on any of the number of substances which would stand substantial risk of killing him.)

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Re:Why Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses (2007) by kanamekun on Friday December 04, 2015 @05:20PM (#10679593)

<< Says a habitual coffee drinker who came to the habit late in life, and who is very happy he's moderately dependent on a substance which is highly unlikely to kill him >>

Coffee will do more than not kill you; it was recently found to confer a "reduced risk of dying from heart disease and certain other causes"!

<< Compared with abstainers, nonsmokers who drank a cup of coffee a day had a 6 percent reduced risk of death, one to three cups an 8 percent reduced risk, three to five cups a 15 percent reduced risk, and more than five cups a 12 percent reduced risk. There was little difference whether they drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. The association persisted after controlling for age, alcohol consumption, B.M.I. and other health and diet factors. >>

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/coffee-tied-to-lowe...

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Re:Why Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses (2007) by specialist on Friday December 04, 2015 @06:40PM (#10679993)

There was a toast bar around the corner from our office. Bread supplied by a bakery two blocks down.

It was frikkin delicious. Swedish toast, with some nordic cheese and jam. Garlic cream cheese with fresh cherry tomatoes. Avocado.

But it doesn't scale. The long queue and wait time deterred customers, with the over flow going to other cafes.

The owners tried all sorts of gear to make toast reliably, consistently, and faster rate. (I have no idea why that's a hard problem.) They finally ran out of energy (will to live) and closed shop.

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Re:Why Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses (2007) by th0ma5 on Friday December 04, 2015 @05:35PM (#10679672)

Carbohydrate addiction (and sugar) are a thing, right?

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