Historically Starbucks has been used as a market indicator for other companies' expansion. If a starbucks opened in a location then it was assumed that there were growth factors at play in the market since that was the north star for Starbucks.

Starbucks in 2019 is the McDonald's of coffee shops, so it's not the same, but if you track their Starbucks Reserve locations you'll find the same predictions being used.